Rep. Steve Scalise wins the House GOP speaker nomination
Updated October 11, 2023 at 3:25 PM ET
Republicans picked Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., to be their nominee for speaker by winning a majority of the Republicans' 222 votes in a closed-door, secret-ballot election.
The vote was 113-99.
Scalise defeated Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, but has yet to lock up the 217 votes necessary to win on the House floor. A source with direct knowledge of the matter said Jordan plans to vote for Scalise on the floor of the House and is encouraging his colleagues to do the same.
Though timing for a floor vote remains unclear.
The House recessed at 3 p.m. Wednesday. Later, Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry told reporters that it was his "hope" a vote on speaker could be held as early as Wednesday.
Who is Steve Scalise?
Scalise, 58, was elected in 2008 in a special election to replace Bobby Jindal, who had just been elected governor.
The former systems engineer got his start in politics at Louisiana State University, where he was twice elected speaker of LSU's Student Government Association. He served as a member of Louisiana's state Legislature for 12 years before being elected to the U.S. House.
The turning point in his career was a 2012 win that made him chairman of the influential Republican Study Group.
As House majority whip in 2017, Scalise was shot by a gunman in Alexandria, Va., as he was playing second base, his normal position on the congressional baseball team. The incident led to a long road to recovery: Scalise underwent multiple surgeries and blood transfusions after the bullet that struck his left hip traveled across his pelvis, fracturing bones, injuring internal organs, and causing severe bleeding.
In August of this year, Scalise said he'd been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a "very treatable blood cancer" for which he has begun treatment. "I have now begun treatment, which will continue for the next several months," he said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
If the House majority leader's position becomes vacant, Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the majority whip, and Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma are in the running for that position.
-- Claudia Grisales contributed to this story. [Copyright 2023 NPR]
