124-81 was the number.
Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, currently chair of the House Judiciary Committee, earned 124 votes to win the nomination over Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.). Scott had mounted a last-minute bid for Speaker that was largely seen as a protest to Jordan’s candidacy. Jordan, of Ohio, will now try to unite colleagues from the deeply divided House GOP majority around his bid ahead of a floor vote, which could push to next week.
With the House narrowly split 221-212, with two vacancies, any nominee can lose just a few Republicans before they fail to reach the 217 majority needed in the face of opposition from Democrats, who will most certainly back their own leader, New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries although there has been some speculation that a backroom deal for a less abrasive Republican choice could be finagled with a few defecting Democrat votes. The Left knows Jordan is not a Swamp creature.
Loyal and determined
Since being elected to Congress in 2006, Jordan dove into the right flank of the conference: First as chair of the conservative Republican Study Committee, and then as the founding chairman of the tactically confrontational conservative House Freedom Caucus — which was credited with pushing out former Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) in 2015. Jordan grew into an ally of former President Trump when he was in office, becoming a frequent presence on Fox News as he learned to speak directly to him.
In 2018, Jordan mounted a challenge to McCarthy for the conference’s top spot, getting 43 votes to McCarthy’s 159. But after that, McCarthy, rather than ostracizing Jordan, bought the right flank into the fold and elevated him. More here.
Now, Jordan is no longer a gadfly. As chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, he is front and center in congressional investigations into the Biden administration, Hunter Biden and defending Trump from various probes.
And in return, he became a staunch ally and defender of McCarthy, even suggesting that the former speaker ran again.