House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) kept her job on Tuesday, winning a three-way race against Reps. Erin Houchin (R-Ind.) and Greg Steube (R-Fla.) on the first ballot.
McClain took 93 votes, locking down enough support to avoid a second ballot. Houchin, the current conference secretary, got 57 while Steube got 27. In the minority, the conference chair is the No. 3 Republican in the lower chamber.
“I am honored to continue serving as House GOP Chair in the 120th Congress,” McClain said on X. “The House GOP is ready to move forward under Leader Jordan and Whip Emmer’s leadership. We have work to do to regain Americans’ trust. That work starts right now.”
McClain went into the vote with 44 public endorsements and dozens more members who’d privately committed to her. Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas), one of her backers, said in a statement that McClain “has the experience, team, and media machine to aggressively combat the Democrats on Day One.”
Her challengers both made the case for change after last week’s midterm losses cost Republicans the House. Houchin pitched running the conference like a PR shop and bringing in new blood. Steube, whose bid we first reported, ran on accountability, writing in a letter to colleagues that “the first obligation after defeat is not self-preservation. It is an honest accounting.”
Some members we talked to last week were skeptical the conference’s message would shift without new faces. “If leadership doesn’t change, messaging won’t either,” one lawmaker told us. But a majority of the conference decided to stick with McClain.
The vote came the same day House Republicans picked Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) as their next leader over House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.). House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) also held on, beating RSC Chair August Pfluger (R-Texas), and Rep. Brian Jack (R-Ga.) won the NRCC chair race.
