Mike Johnson won another term in Congress on Tuesday, but the Republican defeat nationwide is bringing his run atop House GOP leadership to an end.
The Louisiana Republican told staff Wednesday that he would not seek the minority leader’s job in the next Congress, according to ABC News, setting up a scramble to replace him after Democrats captured the House.
Johnson’s decision came hours after an election that cost Republicans their majority and will return Democrats to control of the chamber in January after four years out of power.
His own constituents delivered a different verdict.
Johnson won reelection in Louisiana’s 4th Congressional District, defeating four challengers to retain the northwest Louisiana seat he has represented since 2017. The Associated Press called the race for the speaker, who faced two Democrats and two fellow Republicans.
That victory gives Johnson another two years in the House even as he prepares to relinquish his leadership role.
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House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a fellow Louisiana Republican, and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio have emerged as potential successors.
Jordan has indicated to allies that he is expected to run for minority leader, ABC News reported. House Republicans are scheduled to hold their leadership elections Nov. 10, with candidates required to declare by noon Nov. 6.
Johnson had previously signaled that he intended to remain the party’s leader even if Republicans lost the House. His decision Wednesday takes that option off the table as GOP lawmakers confront their return to the minority.
The speaker spent the final weeks before Election Day campaigning for Republicans across the country. Those efforts were not enough to preserve the party’s narrow hold on the chamber.
Johnson’s departure from leadership will close a turbulent chapter that began with his unexpected ascent in October 2023.
He became speaker after Kevin McCarthy’s ouster plunged House Republicans into weeks of infighting over a replacement. Three years later, the conference faces another consequential choice over who should lead it, this time with Democrats preparing to take the gavel.
