House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, was pulled as the GOP nominee for speaker on Friday after three failed ballots.
Jordan’s downfall had several factors in play, but a few of them drove the Ohio Republican down the exit ramp after 25 Republicans voted for other speaker candidates over him.
Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., who did not vote for Jordan to be speaker, told Fox News Digital on Friday he thinks the large number of people who voted to pull Jordan from the nomination was due to the conference’s secret ballot.
JORDAN OUSTED BY HOUSE GOP AS SPEAKER NOMINEE AFTER FAILED THIRD VOTE
Rep. Jim Jordan, the Republican speaker designee, holds a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Friday. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The House Republican Conference on Friday convened after the third speaker vote where Jordan was removed as the nominee via secret ballot.
“There was no reason for this suspense,” Kelly said. “There was no reason for any of this going on.”
One major factor that reared its ugly head was likely the death threats made against several of Jordan’s holdouts.
GOP Reps. Marianette Miller-Meeks of Iowa and Nick LaLota of New York said this week that they received death threats after not voting for Jordan’s speakership bid.
GOP Rep. Marianette Miller-Meeks of Iowa said this week she received death threats after not voting for Jim Jordan’s speakership bid.
Miller-Meeks released a statement on Wednesday night about the “credible death threats” she has received after voting for House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, for speaker over Jordan in the second round of voting.
Meanwhile, LaLota posted a picture on X of an email he said he received, telling him to go “f— yourself and die.”
“If I see your face, I will whip all the hair out of your f—ing head you f—ing scumbag,” the person wrote.
Jordan’s office has denounced the death threats, with spokesperson Russell Dye calling the words “abhorrent” that have “no place in a civil discourse.”
Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., posted on X a picture of an email he said he received, telling him to go “f— yourself and die.”
Nebraska GOP Rep. Don Bacon’s wife also received anonymous messages threatening to remove the congressman from his job unless he voted for Jordan.
Kelly said there “is no reason for people getting threatening phone calls” and that the total votes against Jordan in the secret ballot were “overwhelming.”
Jordan’s stances on issues like the 2020 election also played a part in him losing the nomination.
The last presidential election became a key talking point among House Democrats as they backed Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., against Jordan for the gavel.
However, the 2020 election became a contention point in the GOP conference as well, and was a major factor in Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., not voting for Jordan.
The 2020 election became a contention point in the GOP conference and was a major factor in Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., not voting for Jordan. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Additionally, while Jordan managed to secure the majority of the House GOP behind him, the Ohio Republican is a polarizing figure among lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
That polarization likely played a part in pushing moderates away from voting for him, as several represent districts won by President Biden in 2020.
The House GOP conference on Friday voted to drop Jordan as its speaker nominee after a third defeat in floor-wide votes earlier in the day.
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Sources told Fox News Digital that the conference had voted to remove Jordan as the nominee in a closed-door meeting.
In the final round, 25 Republicans voted against Jordan, giving him just 194 votes — far short of the approximately 217 he would need to win the speaker’s race. It was his lowest total out of the three ballots.
Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.