Jim Jordan failed to become speaker last year. But his rise in the Republican Party may not be over yet

BOARDMAN, Ohio – For years, the sign gathered dust in a corner of the Republican Party headquarters in Mahoning County, Ohio.

“Welcome future Speaker of the House of Representatives Jim Jordan” it said.

Donald Skowron, a retired Youngstown police officer who stenciled the sign in 2015, made sure it was back on display, decorated for the occasion, when Jordan stopped by last week for a campaign visit ahead of this year’s election.

Jordan did not acknowledge the sign and instead focused his brief remarks on the candidates in Ohio’s most competitive races who could determine control of the House and Senate.

But the Ohio Republican’s leadership ambitions are clearly visible, if unspoken, as he embarks on a multi-state tour aimed at strengthening Republican candidates in the House of Representatives.

Jordan denies he is running for a leadership job. He told The Associated Press in an interview in the lobby of a Marriott hotel that his goal is to help maintain Republican control and lead the House Judiciary Committee for two more years.

“I’m focused,” Jordan said when asked about running for a leadership position, then shifted gears. “We’re going to win, and Mike Johnson becomes a speaker and President Trump will be in the White House,” he said.

Still, in the run-up to Election Day, the 60-year-old has acted less like a powerful committee chairman and more like an “informal” member of the House of Representatives’ Republican leadership team, lawmakers and Republican Party aides said. Many see his activities as a kind of shadow race to become leader of the Republican Party, especially if the party loses its majority and seeks a fresh start.

Jordan has appeared with incumbents and candidates in Colorado, Arkansas, Missouri and Michigan. And he has been active in his home state of Ohio, which is home to two of the most competitive House races in the country.

Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Ohio, who spent several days with Jordan as he traveled across the state from Toledo to Akron, said Jordan has been “working around the clock.”

“I really think he’s kind of an informal member of the leadership team,” Republican candidate Kevin Coughlin, who is in a close race for Ohio’s 13th District, told the AP. “There is no doubt about that, that he is part of the decision-making.”

Once loathed by Republican leaders, Jordan has gone from outside agitator to party asset. The change comes amid a broader transformation within the Republican Party, first under the Tea Party and now in the era of Trump, who is seeking another term in the White House.

Coughlin, who has known Jordan since the two men both served in the Ohio Statehouse, said Jordan “has discovered how to walk the balance between principle and effectiveness.”

“You know, if you’re one of those people who wants to set the whole place on fire if you don’t get your way every time, then you’re not going to be a very effective person,” Coughlin said. “And I think he realizes that.”

Jordan is a beloved figure within the Republican base, in part because of his boxing style on Capitol Hill, where he is known for sparring with Democrats during committee hearings.

Republicans facing both tough and easy races across the country were eager to appear alongside Jordan, wanting both the enthusiasm he brings and the voters lining up to take a selfie with the MAGA favorite, as the fundraising he generates from conservative donors.

In the past month alone, Jordan handed over $1.5 million to the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm for Republican races, according to recent Federal Election Commission disclosures. That makes his total this cycle $2.5 million, one of the larger amounts he has contributed since arriving in Washington in 2007.

A Republican aide said Jordan’s cash flow came at a time of need as the party had struggled for months to compete with Democrats’ fundraising numbers.

It’s fair to say that Jordan’s campaign activities pale in comparison to those of Chairman Johnson, who has been crisscrossing the country for months in his role as majority maker of the Republican Party, raising more than $26 million for the NRCC since taking office a year ago. got his hands on the gavel. Although his future as leader is far from assured, Johnson has a powerful ally in Trump. Should Republicans win the majority, his ability to take the gavel would be significantly strengthened.

And despite his popularity among colleagues, Jordan’s potential campaign for a leadership role faces a major obstacle: Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalisethe majority leader in the House of Representatives.

Scalise is also well-liked among colleagues and has been a fundraising powerhouse for House Republicans over the years, building valuable support in every leadership race. In the past few months alone, Scalise has raised $15.2 million for NRCC, according to financial disclosures, bringing his total raised this cycle to just over $55 million.

But Scalise made his own failed bid for speaker last year when he took issue with medical treatments for blood cancer. He assured his colleagues that he could handle his work despite his health problems.

For now, Jordan is building bridges and allies in unexpected corners of the party, trying to prove that his political skills go beyond being a rabble-rouser and showing loyalty to Trump.

“I learned a long time ago that winning is better than losing. So we try to win. And we try to help everyone,” Jordan told the AP.