Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern withdraws bid to become House Speaker

U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern announced Saturday that he is no longer a candidate to replace Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House.

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Hern, 61, a Republican who has represented Oklahoma’s first congressional district since 2018, made the announcement in a letter he wrote to fellow congressmen.

His decision means that Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, are the two contenders to become the next speaker.

“I’ve been on the phone 50+ hours with Republican members and what’s clear is we all want UNITY,” Hern wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I believe a three-man race for Speaker will create even more division and make it harder to elect a Speaker.”

Winning the speakership would require 217 votes in the House’s current makeup, according to the Tulsa World.

The GOP caucus currently has only 221 members, meaning there is little margin for a candidate to win the speakership.

One Republican faction used that slim majority to hold up McCarthy’s confirmation as speaker in January and also to force him out of his post last week, the newspaper reported. McCarthy’s ouster was the first in the history of the House.

Hern did not endorse a candidate for Speaker in his announcement, according to The Hill. He said that he wanted the two men to earn the support of the Republican caucus.

GOP members are expected to begin their selection for a Speaker during a closed-door meeting beginning Tuesday, according to the news outlet.

“Whatever happens next, our Conference must commit to stay in the room, turn off our phones, and work together until we have a candidate that can earn 217 Republican votes,” Hern wrote in his letter. “When we leave that room and head to the House floor, we must show the world that we are united in support behind our Speaker and ready to do the work we were elected to do.”