Jim Jordan Elected House Republican Leader After Midterm Losses: What His 106–73 Win Over Steve Scalise Means

November 11, 2026 Faizan Altaf

Jim Jordan, one of the most combative figures in American politics, has been elected leader of the House Republicans. The Ohio congressman defeated Steve Scalise by 106 votes to 73 in a secret ballot on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, and will lead his party in the minority when the new Congress begins in January.

The vote came a week after Republicans suffered heavy losses in the midterm elections, with Democrats flipping more than 40 Republican seats to take control of the House of Representatives. Jordan, 62, will now have the job of leading a smaller, more conservative Republican group through two years in opposition — and trying to win the House back in 2028.

“When Democrats offer more government, we’ll offer more freedom,” Jordan told reporters after his win. “We will bring that fight in committee, on the floor and on the stump every single day.”

How Jordan won the vote

House Republicans gathered behind closed doors on Tuesday to choose their next leader. The contest was a straight choice between two men who have been at the centre of Republican politics for years: Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the current House majority leader.

Jordan won the secret ballot 106–73. It was his third attempt at winning the party’s top job in the House, and the first time he has succeeded. He had previously run for the leadership in 2018 and again in 2023, when he and Scalise both sought to become Speaker after Kevin McCarthy was removed from the job. Neither man won that race — the post eventually went to Mike Johnson, who is now stepping aside from the leadership in the new Congress.

Scalise had actually beaten Jordan in a similar secret ballot three years ago, in the 2023 race to succeed McCarthy. This time, the result went the other way.

The vote reflected how much the Republican conference has changed. Last week’s election defeat cost the party many of its moderate and swing-district members, who either retired or were voted out. Those who remain are, on average, more conservative — and many were hungry for a new leader.

“We’re a significantly more conservative conference than we were,” said Representative Brian Mast of Florida, who nominated Jordan for the job. “The way that Jim fights says a lot about where this conference is.”

Who is Jim Jordan?

Jim Jordan has spent nearly two decades in Congress, and he has built his reputation as a fighter — first on the wrestling mat, and then in committee rooms.

Before entering politics, Jordan was an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University. He was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in 1994, later served in the Ohio Senate, and won a seat in the US House of Representatives in 2006, taking office in January 2007.

In Congress, Jordan co-founded the House Freedom Caucus, the group of the most conservative Republican lawmakers, and served as its first chairman. He later became the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee, and six years ago he became the lead Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, which he now chairs.

It is that committee experience that Jordan put at the centre of his pitch for the leadership. In a letter to his colleagues last week, he wrote that “offense, not defense, wins elections” and argued that the party had been drifting without a plan.

“For too long, we have operated without a clear plan to survive the hour or the day in front of us. That will not cut it against an emboldened and energetic Democratic party,” he wrote. “I am battle-tested on the oversight front and I know the Democrats’ playbook.”

His supporters say that experience is exactly what the party needs now. With Democrats preparing a long list of investigations into President Donald Trump and his administration, Republicans want a leader who knows how to fight back in hearings.

“Instead of focusing on the people, it seems that the entire objective for Democrats is going to be targeted investigations,” said Representative Anna Paulina Luna of Florida. “And Jim Jordan knows about weaponization.”

The House Freedom Caucus celebrated the result, calling Jordan a “fierce fighter”. Its chairman, Andy Harris of Maryland, said Jordan was “exactly the right man for the job to fight back against the radical, crazy agenda of Democrats.”

Why Republicans chose Jordan over Scalise

Steve Scalise, 61, offered a very different style. He has held senior Republican leadership posts since 2014, serving first as party whip and then as majority leader, and he is known as a skilled fundraiser and dealmaker. In his pitch to colleagues, he said he had raised $67.9 million for this year’s midterm campaigns, with about a third of that going directly to individual House campaigns and the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Scalise also has a powerful personal story. In 2017, he was critically wounded when a gunman opened fire at a baseball practice where Republican lawmakers were preparing for an annual charity game against Democrats. In 2023, he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer, which was successfully treated.

“Overcoming adversity is nothing new to me,” Scalise told his colleagues. In his letter announcing his candidacy, he described his approach as “conservative and consensus-driven” and said his number one goal would be to win back the majority.

But after last week’s defeat, most Republicans wanted a change of direction rather than continuity. Scalise was closely associated with the leadership team that had overseen the midterm losses, and Jordan’s pitch — that the party needed to go on the attack — won over the majority.

His backers also liked his record of battling Democrats in committee hearings, where he has spent years questioning witnesses and defending the Trump administration. In a party that now sees itself as an opposition force, that combative style counted for more than Scalise’s experience of getting legislation passed.

What Jordan’s win means for Trump and the Democrats

Jordan’s election matters well beyond the internal politics of the Republican Party. It sets the tone for how the opposition will behave for the next two years, while Donald Trump serves out the final two years of his presidency.

Democrats will hold their own leadership elections next week. Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York is expected to become the next Speaker of the House — the first African American to hold the job — and Representative Katherine Clark of Massachusetts is expected to become the next majority leader, the first woman to hold that position.

Once in charge, Democrats are expected to launch a series of investigations into the Trump administration. Jordan has spent years leading Republican efforts to push back against such inquiries, and his election signals that Republicans intend to fight them aggressively rather than seek compromise.

Democrats were quick to argue that Republicans had learned the wrong lesson from their election defeat.

“I would think that they would want somebody that was going to moderate towards what the voters want. They lost so many Republican voters,” said Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington. “Obviously that’s not the case.”

Representative Ted Lieu of California, vice chair of the House Democratic caucus, put it more bluntly: “The House Republican caucus clearly chose the more extreme candidate. Hopefully, he’ll work with Democrats. We’ll see what happens.”

Jordan said after the vote that House Republicans would focus on fighting for American families over the next two years.

One former aide to Kevin McCarthy summed up the job ahead in stark terms. John Leganski said the next minority leader’s first task was to try to win back the House, and the second was to “make life as difficult for the Democrats as possible, largely by voting no.”

That reflects the reality Jordan faces. He inherits what the Associated Press described as a historically small House Republican conference, and leading the party back to a majority in 2028 will be a steep climb after the scale of the midterm losses. With little power to pass laws, the minority leader’s main tools are committee hearings, floor speeches and public campaigning — all areas where Jordan’s style is at its strongest.

The rest of the new Republican leadership team

Jordan was not the only leadership post decided on Tuesday. Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota was elected as the Republican whip, the number two position in the leadership, beating Representative August Pfluger of Texas. Representative Lisa McClain of Michigan won re-election as conference chair, the number three position.

In the Senate, Republicans chose continuity over change. Senator John Thune of South Dakota was elected to a second term as party leader, running unopposed. Thune has faced criticism from Trump over the past two years for refusing to eliminate the Senate filibuster and for failing to pass the president’s long-sought election overhaul bill, the SAVE America Act. Despite that, he enjoyed broad support inside the Republican caucus.

“I’m proud of what this Republican team has accomplished together, and we remain united in our commitment to advancing conservative priorities, working with President Trump and our colleagues in the House, and holding the line against Democrats’ efforts to enact their far-left, liberal agenda,” Thune said in a statement after the vote.

What happens next

The new Congress begins in January, when Jordan will formally take over as House minority leader and Jeffries is expected to become Speaker. Until then, the current Congress continues under the old leadership, with Johnson still serving as Speaker.

For Jordan, the immediate task is to hold his smaller conference together and set out a clear message for the next two years. He has promised an aggressive, oppositional style — fighting Democrats “in committee, on the floor and on the stump every single day”. His supporters believe that is the only way to rebuild after the midterm defeat. His critics, including Democrats, say it will push the party further from the voters it needs to win back.

Either way, the choice is now made. After three attempts, Jim Jordan — the former wrestling coach from Ohio who built his career on confrontation — is the man leading House Republicans into their years in the minority.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Jim Jordan?

Jim Jordan is a Republican congressman from Ohio, first elected to the US House of Representatives in 2006. He is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and a co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus. Before Congress, he served in the Ohio state legislature and was an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University.

How did Jim Jordan become House Republican leader?

House Republicans elected him in a secret ballot on Tuesday, 10 November 2026. He defeated the current House majority leader, Steve Scalise, by 106 votes to 73. He will take over as the party’s leader — known as minority leader, since Republicans are now in the minority — when the new Congress begins in January.

Who is Steve Scalise?

Steve Scalise is a Republican congressman from Louisiana who has served as House majority leader. He has held senior Republican leadership posts since 2014. He survived being shot at a congressional baseball practice in 2017 and was treated for blood cancer in 2023.

Why did Republicans lose the House?

In last week’s midterm elections, Democrats flipped more than 40 Republican-held seats, giving them control of the House of Representatives. It was one of the worst midterm results for a governing party in decades.

What is a minority leader?

The minority leader is the head of the largest party that does not control the House. The minority leader organises the opposition, leads debates, and speaks for the party in public. The majority party’s leader is the Speaker of the House.

Who will be the next Speaker of the House?

Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York is expected to become the next Speaker when the new Congress begins in January. He would be the first African American to hold the job. Representative Katherine Clark of Massachusetts is expected to become majority leader, the first woman in that role.

Conclusion

Jim Jordan’s election as House Republican leader marks a clear turning point for the party after its midterm defeat. By choosing the 62-year-old Judiciary Committee chairman over the more traditional leadership figure of Steve Scalise, Republicans have picked a fighter to lead them through two years in opposition.

The 106–73 vote was not close, and it reflected a conference that has become smaller and more conservative after losing so many moderate members. Jordan’s promise is simple: attack, not retreat. He says Republicans will fight Democrats in committee rooms, on the House floor and on the campaign trail every day until the next election.

Whether that strategy wins back the House in 2028 remains to be seen. For now, the party has made its choice — and the next two years of American politics will be shaped by it.

Sources

This article is for general information and education only. It is not legal or financial advice.

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