Punchbowl News: “The Ohio Republican plans to head to the floor today for a speaker election with more than a dozen GOP lawmakers saying they’ll vote against him or are undecided about his candidacy.”
“Some House GOP insiders suggest the 59-year-old Judiciary Committee chair is as many as 20 votes short of winning the speaker’s gavel. That’s a very daunting hill for Jordan and his allies to climb…”
“Here’s a useful benchmark. McCarthy got 201 votes on his first of 15 tries to win the speakership in January. McCarthy never dropped below 200 in all 15 rounds. If Jordan doesn’t start somewhere in the 200 neighborhood on the first ballot, he’s in trouble. And several lawmakers told us that they’d only committed to Jordan on the first ballot…”
“This contest can easily go multiple ballots. In fact, many GOP lawmakers and aides expect it will. But keep in mind that Republicans were willing to go 15 rounds for McCarthy because they liked him. Jordan is not as well liked as McCarthy.”
