Lucas, Hern backing Scalise as other delegation members remain mum

WASHINGTON – House Republicans voted behind closed doors Wednesday to select their nominee for speaker of the house, with some members of the Oklahoma delegation lining up behind the winner, Rep. Steve Scalise.

The vote comes after former Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was ousted earlier this month in a historic 216-210 motion, leaving the House effectively paralyzed until a new speaker is elected. Now, with the Israel-Hamas war and another potential government shutdown looming when the current stopgap funding bill expires in November, there is a renewed urgency to fill the position.

“It’ll be …very competitive,” Representative Tom Cole (R-Moore) said before the vote Wednesday. “But I think it’s basically a two horse race and it should get decided pretty quickly.”

On Tuesday evening, House Republicans attended a private forum where they heard from the two candidates vying for the gavel: House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who is endorsed by former president Donald Trump.

Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Okahoma City) told Gaylord News that the forum went well, but declined to comment on who she voted for during the Wednesday election.

“It was actually very cordial,” Bice said about the forum. “There were lots of good questions asked.”

Although Cole’s name has been thrown out as a potential candidate for the position, the Moore representative, who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2002, told Gaylord News he will not be running for speaker, even if the House doesn’t come to an agreement by the end of the week.

“There are two good candidates, pretty easy choice. One of them is gonna get more votes than the other,” Cole said.

Republicans ultimately voted for Scalise to be their speaker nominee by a vote of 113 to 99 for Jordan. But Scalise needs 217 votes to become speaker.

Both Representative Frank Lucas (R, Cheyenne) and Kevin Hern (R-Tulsa) said after the vote Wednesday that they voted for Scalise and plan to do the same when the vote reaches the floor. Lucas nominated Scalise.

Following the vote, Hern announced he will be running for Majority Leader if Scalise is elected speaker, saying in a statement on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that America needs a Majority Leader that will work alongside the speaker to “help move the Conference past the events of the last 10 days.”

“After talking to 200 members last week, it was very obvious that we need a direction forward on good policy. And that’s all I do in (the Republican Study Committee) right now, listen to members, I do it all the time,” Hern told Gaylord News reporters. “I think that’s what we’re gonna need as we go and reunify our party going forward. I think that’s what’s really important is that we unify our party, we listen a lot and we come forward.”

In response to Hern’s bid for Majority Leader, Lucas said it’s going to “set off all kinds of gyrations. I think the world of my neighbor, and we’ll see how it sorts out,” Lucas said.

Cole declined to comment on how he voted Wednesday.

It was expected that Rep. Josh Brecheen (R, Coalgate) voted for Jordan, who he has publicly supported for the speaker position.

The House adjourned at 3 p.m. Wednesday and it is unclear when Republicans will call for a vote to elect the new speaker.

Gaylord News is a reporting project of the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication. For more stories by Gaylord News go to GaylordNews.net.