Rep. Jim Jordan failed in his first attempt to be elected Speaker of the House Tuesday morning, falling 17 short of the votes he needed to win.
A dozen Jordan’s fellow Republicans cast their votes for other candidates, including the recently-ousted Kevin McCarthy and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who gave up his own failed bid for speaker last week.
Rep. Robert Garcia, a Democrat from L.A. County, told KNX News’ Craig Fiegener that Jordan’s ascendancy is a dangerous sign for the GOP.
“The extreme far-right has taken over the Republican party in D.C. and in Congress,” he said. “I think it would be a huge mistake for Republicans to elect someone that doesn’t believe that Joe Biden rightfully won the election, or supports the insurrectionists on January 6.”
As for who Garcia is voting for, he stood behind Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, whom House Democrats are so far unified in supporting. Jeffries won 212 votes on Tuesday’s first ballot, compared to Jordan’s 200.
“Hakeem Jeffries has more committed folks in the House to vote for him than any other person,” Garcia said.
Rep. Young Kim, a Republican who represents parts of Orange and Riverside counties, refused to publicly commit to supporting Jordan, but told Craig Fiegener “it’s time that we show that Congress can come together and start governing again.” She also refused to say that Joe Biden was legitimately elected.
The House will continue voting until a new speaker is selected. In January, it took 15 rounds for Kevin McCarthy to win over his party’s holdouts.
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