EXCLUSIVE — House Democrats are seeking to put vulnerable Republicans in the hot seat ahead of House speakership elections on Tuesday by launching a robocall campaign urging voters to contact their representatives to vote against Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) on the floor.
House Majority Forward launched the campaign on Monday targeting 11 districts that are deemed to be some of the most competitive races in the 2024 election cycle. HMF is the nonprofit arm of the House Majority PAC, the Democrats’ main fundraising arm that is tasked with building Democrats' ranks in the lower chamber.
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The robocalls specifically target voters in Arizona, Michigan, and New York in the districts held by Reps. David Schweikert (R-AZ), Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ), Bill Huizenga (R-MI), John James (R-MI), Nick LaLota (R-NY), George Santos (R-NY), Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Marc Molinaro (R-NY), Elise Stefanik (R-NY), and Brandon Williams (R-NY).
The campaign specifically targets Jordan over his previous voting record on a number of issues as well as his defense of former President Donald Trump in the aftermath of the 2020 election and subsequent Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
“Hi, it’s House Majority Forward,” the robocall states, according to a script obtained by the Washington Examiner. "Republicans have nominated Jim Jordan for Speaker, who voted to overturn the 2020 election, defended the criminals who attacked the Capitol on January 6th, and is in favor of an extreme agenda to ban abortion nationwide, cut veteran benefits by 22%, eliminate health insurance for 21 million Americans, and fire 108,000 school teachers and aides. Please call Rep. XXX at XXX-XXX-XXXX and tell him to vote against Jim Jordan for Speaker.”
The push comes just one day before the House is set to reconvene for the first time in two weeks to elect its new speaker after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was ousted earlier this month. Jordan won the GOP nomination during a closed-door meeting with party members last week, and the Ohio Republican has been talking with House Republicans all weekend to secure the 217 votes needed to clinch the speakership when it comes to the floor.
Jordan can only afford to lose four votes as Democrats are expected to vote for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), setting the stage for a multi-round election similar to the one lawmakers experienced in January when it took McCarthy 15 rounds to secure the leadership position.
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It’s not yet clear whether Jordan has secured the 217 votes needed, as lawmakers left town for the weekend with more than 50 Republicans indicating they would vote against the Ohio Republican. However, several initial holdouts, such as Reps. Ann Wagner (R-MO), Ken Calvert (R-CA), and Mike Rogers (R-AL), announced on Monday they had flipped their votes after speaking with Jordan and would support him on the floor — indicating some momentum in favor of the nominee ahead of Tuesday's vote.
The House is scheduled to meet at noon on Tuesday to begin its speakership elections. If successful, Jordan will assume the leadership position with just one month until the government is scheduled to run out of money — and both chambers of Congress are still far from advancing all 12 of its appropriations bills.