Jim Jordan Defeats Steve Scalise for House GOP Leader After 2026 Midterms

Updated and verified: November 10, 2026, at 21:04 UTC.

Jim Jordan defeated Steve Scalise in a House Republican leadership election on November 10, winning 106 votes to Scalise’s 73, according to the Associated Press. Jordan is set to lead House Republicans in the minority in the next Congress, after the party’s losses in the 2026 midterms. The result connects the two lawmakers through a contest over who will guide the Republican conference after voters shifted control of the House.

The vote was an internal election among House Republicans, not a public election in which voters chose between Jordan and Scalise. It determines the party’s leader in the House for the next Congress; it does not decide who represents either man’s district. The Associated Press reported the vote and result.

Destaques

• Jordan beat Scalise, 106–73, in the House GOP’s leadership vote.
• The contest followed Republican losses in the 2026 midterm elections.
• Jordan is expected to lead Republicans as the House minority leader in the next Congress.
• The outcome changes party leadership; it is separate from voters’ choices in congressional district races.

What election did Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise compete in?

They competed for the top leadership position in the House Republican Conference for the next Congress. Republicans who will serve in that Congress voted in a closed-door, secret-ballot contest. The Associated Press reported that Jordan received 106 votes and Scalise received 73.

That distinction matters because “the election” can refer to two different things in this story. Voters cast ballots in the 2026 midterms to elect members of Congress. After those results left Republicans preparing to serve in the House minority, Republican lawmakers held their own vote to choose a party leader. Jordan and Scalise faced off in that second election.

Why were Jordan and Scalise running against each other?

The midterm results changed the political setting for House Republicans. With the party moving into the minority, its members needed to choose who would lead their conference and represent its strategy in the chamber. The leadership race also followed Speaker Mike Johnson’s decision to step aside from the party leadership role, as reported by Axios.

Jordan, an Ohio Republican and House Judiciary Committee chairman, and Scalise, a Louisiana Republican who served as House majority leader, brought different experience to the contest. Scalise had held a senior leadership post while Republicans controlled the House. Jordan, a prominent conservative and founding member of the House Freedom Caucus, offered a different profile for a conference seeking direction after an electoral setback. Those descriptions provide context for the contest; they do not establish why any individual member voted as they did.

What does Jordan’s win mean for Scalise and the House?

Jordan’s win makes him the incoming leader of House Republicans in the minority. In that role, he will help coordinate the conference’s response to legislation, set priorities for party messaging and organize Republicans as they negotiate or oppose proposals in a House controlled by Democrats. The minority leader is a party position, not the Speaker of the House, and the conference vote itself does not give Jordan control of the chamber.

Scalise loses the contest for the top Republican post but remains a member of Congress. His previous role as majority leader reflected the party’s position in the outgoing Congress. Leadership titles can change when party control changes; the official House Majority Leader website identifies Scalise as majority leader in the current Congress.

Is this a rematch of the 2023 Speaker contest?

It echoes an earlier leadership contest, but the positions and circumstances differ. In 2023, after Kevin McCarthy was removed as Speaker, Scalise and Jordan competed for the Republican nomination for Speaker. Scalise won the conference nomination, but he did not secure enough support to win the full House vote and withdrew; Republicans later chose Mike Johnson as Speaker. In 2026, the contest was for the party’s leader as it entered the minority, rather than for the speakership of a Republican-controlled House.

What happens next after the House GOP leadership vote?

Jordan’s immediate task is to prepare the conference for the next Congress and define how it will operate in the minority. He will need to manage internal disagreements while responding to Democratic priorities and deciding where Republicans will cooperate, negotiate or oppose. Those are forward-looking challenges, not settled outcomes: the leadership result alone does not show what policies the conference will pursue or whether it will remain unified.

The midterms set the conditions for the leadership contest, while House Republicans’ internal vote selected their next leader. That is the connection between Jordan, Scalise and the election: voters reshaped the balance of power, and Republican lawmakers then chose who would lead their party under the new balance.

FAQ

Who won the House Republican leadership election?

Jim Jordan defeated Steve Scalise, 106 votes to 73, in the November 10, 2026, conference vote.

Was this a public election?

No. It was a secret-ballot vote by House Republicans for their party’s leader in the next Congress.

Does Jordan replace Scalise as Speaker?

No. The vote selected Jordan as the incoming House Republican leader in the minority. It was not a vote for Speaker.