Republican Rep. Jim Jordan called on his party to “join” Rep. Kevin McCarthy who failed to secure a majority of votes for House Speaker on the first ballot.
Six GOP lawmakers voted for Jordan as Speaker of the House, drawing few votes to McCarthy.
Now there is a second ballot – and Jordan is a candidate after being nominated by Rep. Matt Gaetz.
The 19 total Republicans who voted against McCarthy in the first round are all planning to vote for Jordan in the second round, sources told CNN.
“I think Kevin McCarthy is the right person to lead us,” Jordan said, naming McCarthy.
“I like his fight, I like his tenacity,” he added, saying, “We have to rally around him.”
The Ohio lawmaker said the differences between Republicans “pale in comparison” to the differences the party has “between us and the left.”
“So we better come together” and fight, he said, naming several items on the GOP agenda, including legislative priorities and oversight.
Members can vote for anyone, and they can protest by skipping the vote or voting “present”. If enough people skip the vote or vote “present”, the number of votes required for a majority may fall below 218.
CNN’s Annie Grayer, Melanie Zanona and Manu Raju contributed to this post.
