Mace says she will vote for Jordan, goes after Scalise

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said in a Wednesday interview that she still plans to vote for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to be the next Speaker when the matter is brought to the floor for a House vote. 

“I would not. I plan on voting for Jim Jordan on the floor,” Mace said on CNN when asked whether she would have voted for House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), the GOP nominee, had the House vote been held Wednesday afternoon.

“I’ve been very vocal about this over the last couple of days: I personally cannot, in good conscience, vote for someone who attended a white supremacist conference and compared himself to David Duke,” she continued. “I would be doing an enormous disservice to the voters that I represent in South Carolina if I were to do that.”

Mace was referring to reports that Scalise had compared himself to the Ku Klux Klan grand wizard at an event years ago, reportedly calling himself “David Duke without the baggage.”

Mace’s comments come as Scalise works to shore up support among Republicans who have indicated they were unsure of how they would vote or have indicated they intend to vote against Scalise. Mace was one of eight House Republicans who voted to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from his post last week.

Scalise defeated Jordan on Tuesday for the GOP nomination for House Speaker, in a close vote of 113-99.

Jordan has stated publicly that he intends to vote for Scalise, but some of his supporters still say they plan to back him over Scalise, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Bob Good (R-Va.) and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.). 

Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) indicated earlier that he plans on backing Jordan, but he noted at the time that Jordan had said he would not step aside. Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) said he plans to vote for McCarthy unless McCarthy himself tells him not to do so. 

Several other members have said they were not sure yet how they would vote. Scalise can only afford to lose a few votes in such a closely divided Congress, assuming he gets no Democrats to back his bid.