Georgia congressman again running for U.S. House speaker
Austin Scott will run for House speaker after Jim Jordan fails again, GOP withdraws his nomination.
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - in the wake of a third straight unsuccessful vote to elect a new U.S. House speaker, several Republicans are reportedly announcing their candidacy for the nation’s No. 3 political job, including another bid from a Georgia congressman.
On Friday, U.S. Rep. Austin Scott announced on X (formerly known as Twitter) he will again run for the position.
If we are going to be the majority we need to act like the majority, and that means we have to do the right things the right way. I supported and voted for Rep. Jim Jordan to be the Speaker of the House. Now that he has withdrawn I am running again to be the Speaker of the House.
— Rep. Austin Scott (@AustinScottGA08) October 20, 2023
This is Scott’s second candidacy for House speaker. One week ago, he announced a bid for the position, only to withdraw it hours later after the House GOP caucus chose U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio. Scott represents Georgia’s 8th congressional district.
On Friday, Jordan failed for the third time this week to secure the speakership. On Friday, Jordan lost even more support during this third vote than he did during his first and second attempts, with 25 Republican votes against him. He was 20 votes down on Monday and 22 votes down on Thursday.
House Republicans dropped Jordan as their nominee for speaker of the House early Friday afternoon,
“Congressman Austin Scott has distinguished himself over a period of years by becoming an expert and a leader on agriculture issues – he’s from South Georgia where that’s the number one industry – and on armed services issues,” longtime Republican strategist Brian Robinson said last week.
Robinson said whoever ends up securing the 217 votes needed to obtain the speakership, Republicans need to act quickly and in unity to restore confidence in the party.
“We’re at a place where there’s no obvious people, it’s going to take a lot of time to hash it out,” he said. “Give us something to vote for, give us some leadership and some vision and not look like nuts who can’t be trusted to govern the country.”
According to the Associated Press, Republicans convened behind closed doors again Friday as the search for a House speaker reached into a second week.
Two weeks ago, California Republican Kevin McCarthy became the first House speaker in American history to be ousted from his leadership position. Last week, Majority Leader Steve Scalise ended his bid when it became clear hardline holdouts refused to back him.
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Scott recently joined with 44 other Republicans in calling for an overhaul to House rules after McCarthy’s ouster.
“The injustice we all witnessed cannot go unaddressed — lest we bear responsibility for the consequences that follow,” a letter signed by Scott said. “Our Conference must address fundamental changes to the structure of our majority to ensure success for the American people.”
Scott would become the fourth Georgian to serve as House speaker, following Democrats Howell Cobb (1849-1851) and Charles Frederick Crisp (1891-1895), and Republican Newt Gingrich (1995-1999).
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