Bachmann Drops Bid For House Leadership Spot
Last week, I noted the developing battle between Michelle Bachmann and Jeb Hensarling for Chairmanship of the House GOP Conference. Since that time, Hensarling has been racking up endorsements from the majority of the House GOP leadership as well as influential Republicans like Paul Ryan and Ron Paul. As I noted on OTB Radio last night, it seemed clear that Hensarling was going to win.
Late yesterday, Bachmann seemed to acknowledge that fact when she dropped out of the race:
Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) dropped her bid to become the next House GOP Conference Chairman late Wednesday.
Bachmann, a darling of the Tea Party movement, ended her week-long run against fellow conservative Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) after it was apparent that Hensarling had the votes to win the leadership election.
Bachmann was quick to endorse Hensarling, who her supporters had painted as the “establishment” candidate in the race to be the fourth-ranking House Republican in the 112th Congress.
This essentially means that the GOP leadership fights are over:
At this point, only the GOP Policy Committee Chairman position is contested. Reps. Tom Price (R-Ga.) and Connie Mack (R-Fla.) are running for the position, currently held by Michigan Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R).
But as it stands, the rest of the leadership positions are uncontested.
Boehner is up for Speaker, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) for House Majority Leader, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for Majority Whip, Hensarling for Conference Chair, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) for Conference Vice-Chair, Rep. John Carter (R-Texas) for Conference Secretary and Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) for National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chairman.
Next up, Committee assignments.
