US House Republicans choose Jim Jordan as their next party leader

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Republicans in the US House of Representatives on Tuesday elected Jim Jordan to be the party’s leader in the next Congress, choosing a new face after the worst midterm electoral…

Republicans in the US House of Representatives on Tuesday elected Jim Jordan to be the party’s leader in the next Congress, choosing a new face after the worst midterm electoral drubbing in half a century.

Mr Jordan defeated current House majority leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana for the role in a 106-73 secret ballot after saying his opponent was too closely associated with the failed midterm effort.

He will now have the task of winning back control of the House for the Republicans. He will need to ensure any of President Donald Trump’s promised vetoes of Democratic bills cannot be overridden by Republican defections.

The vote was held after current House Speaker Mike Johnson announced he was stepping aside last week.

Mr Jordan was the first leader of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, a voting bloc that fought to move the Republicans further to the right using hardball tactics.

Mr Jordan, 62, was first elected in 2006 to represent a deeply conservative rural district in northern Ohio.

Former House speaker John Boehner, who resigned from his role amid a mutiny on his right flank, once called Mr Jordan a legislative “terrorist.”

Mr Jordan is known for not wearing a jacket unless he is on the House floor. He says he finds jackets uncomfortable and does not see the need for one.

Before entering politics, he was a ⁠champion high school and university wrestler, and later ​a wrestling coach at Ohio State University.

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