Republican Congressman Jim Jordan announced his bid for House minority leader Wednesday.
Jordan will challenge Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California.
“I plan to run for minority leader,” Jordan announced on the political webcast “Rising.”
Jordan represents Ohio’s Fourth Congressional District, which includes all of Union, Champaign, Logan, Shelby, Auglaize, Allen, Crawford, Seneca and Sandusky counties, as well as parts of Mercer, Marion, Huron, Erie and Lorain counties.
Jordan, an Urbana native, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006. Through the redistricting process, Jordan became the representative for Union County in 2012.
On Tuesday, he won reelection, defeating challenger Janet Garrett. Election Day also saw Republicans lose control of the House of Representatives.
Earlier this year, Jordan announced he was considering a move to replace House Speaker Paul Ryan after the Wisconsin Republican announced his retirement.
“In 2016, the American people elected Republicans to come here and change this town,” Jordan said on the webcast announcement. “I think the president is doing just that, but I don’t think they see the same intensity from folks in Congress, folks in the House of Representatives.”
During his announcement, Jordan said Republicans will need to take a different approach toward change.
“Now that we’re in the minority, that’s about all we can do is debate, but fight hard in the debate for the principles, for the things that we know the American people sent us here to do in 2016, show them that we deserve to be back in power in 2020,” Jordan said.
Jordan serves as chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s subcommittee on health care, benefits and administrative rules and a member of the committee’s subcommittee government operations. He is also a member of the Judiciary Committee’s subcommittees on courts, intellectual property and the internet and on the Constitution and civil justice.