BOARDMAN, Ohio (AP) — The sign hung in a corner of the Republican Party headquarters in Mahoning County, Ohio, gathering dust for years.
“Welcome, future Speaker of the House Jim Jordan,” it said.
Donald Skowron, a retired Youngstown police officer who stenciled the sign back in 2015, made sure it was put back on display, decked out for the occasion, when Jordan stopped by for a campaign visit last week ahead of this year’s election.
Jordan ignored the sign and instead focused his brief remarks on the candidates in Ohio’s most competitive races that could determine control of the House and Senate.
But the Ohio Republican’s leadership ambitions, if unspoken, are clear as he embarks on a multi-state tour to bolster Republican candidates in the House.
Jordan denies running for leadership, telling The Associated Press in an interview in the lobby of a Marriott hotel that his goal is to maintain Republican control and lead the House Judiciary Committee for another two years.
“I’m focused,” Jordan said when asked about running for a leadership position, and then he switched gears. “We will win, and Mike Johnson will be speaker and President Trump will be in the White House,” he said.
Still, the 60-year-old has behaved less like a powerful committee chairman in the run-up to Election Day and more like an “informal” member of the House Republican leadership team, Republican lawmakers and aides say. Many view his activities as a kind of shadow race for the position of GOP leader, especially as 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 vigorous in his home state of Ohio, which has two of the most competitive House races in the country.
Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Ohio, who spent several days with Jordan as he trekked across the state from Toledo to Akron, said Jordan “worked around the clock.”
“I think he’s kind of an informal member of the leadership team,” Republican candidate Kevin Coughlin, who is running in a close race for Ohio’s 13th District, told the AP. “There is no doubt that he is involved in the decision-making.”
Once loathed by Republican leaders, Jordan has transformed from an outside agitator into a party asset. The shift came as part of a broader shift in the Republican Party, first under the Tea Party and now in the age of Trump, who is seeking another term in the White House.
Coughlin, who has known Jordan since both men served in the Ohio Statehouse, said Jordan has “figured out how to find the balance between principle and effectiveness.”
“You know, if you’re the kind of person that just wants to burn everything down, if you don’t get your way every time, you’re not going to be a very effective person,” Coughlin said. “And I think he figured that out.”
Jordan is a popular figure within the GOP base, in part because of his combative style on Capitol Hill, where he is known for tussling with Democrats in committee hearings.
Republicans, who face both tough and straightforward races across the country, were eager to run alongside Jordan. They wanted both the enthusiasm he brings as voters line up to take a selfie with the MAGA favorite and the fundraising boost he inspires among conservative donors.
Last month alone, Jordan transferred $1.5 million to the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm for GOP campaigns, according to recent Federal Election Commission disclosures. That brings the total he has given this cycle to $2.5 million, one of the largest amounts he has given since arriving in Washington in 2007.
A Republican consultant said Jordan’s cash flow came in an hour of need as the party has struggled for months to keep up with Democrats’ fundraising numbers.
To be sure, Jordan’s campaign activities are dwarfed by those of Speaker Johnson, who has crisscrossed the country for months in his role as the GOP majority whip and has raised more than $26 million for the NRCC since he took office a year ago Hammer received. While his future as a leader is far from assured, Johnson has a powerful ally in Trump. If Republicans win the majority, his ability to win the gavel would be significantly strengthened.
And despite his popularity with colleagues, Jordan’s potential leadership bid faces a major obstacle: Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, the House Majority Leader.
Scalise is also well-liked among colleagues and has become a driving force in fundraising for House Republicans over the years, building valuable support in every leadership contest. In the last few months alone, Scalise has raised $15.2 million for NRCC, according to financial disclosures, for a total this cycle of just over $55 million.
But Scalise himself failed as a speaker last year when he discussed the medical treatment of blood cancer. He assured his colleagues that, despite his health problems, he was up to the task.
Currently, Jordan is building bridges and allies in unexpected corners of the party, trying to prove that his political skills extend beyond mere inflamation and 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.
