COLUMBUS, Ga. — A Georgia Republican congressman said Thursday he and his family received death threats after he switched his House speaker vote away from Rep. Jim Jordan.
Rep. Jordan is the Republican nominee for speaker, but has been unable to secure the position in two House-wide votes so far. Jordan said Thursday he would back a temporary speaker but will continue to try to build support for his own nomination.
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In a statement Thursday, Rep. Drew Ferguson of Columbus characterized Jordan's campaign to win the speakership as reaching "bully" levels and said he'd gotten death threats after backing Rep. Steve Scalise in the second vote a day earlier.
Ferguson said he first supported Jordan, but that following the initial vote he had "genuine concerns about the threatening tactics and pressure campaigns Jordan and his allies were using to leverage members for their votes."
"I discussed this directly with Jim, and planned to support him on the second ballot. When the pressure campaigns and attacks on fellow members ramped up, it became clear to me that the House Republican Conference does not need a bully as the Speaker," Rep. Ferguson said. "I cast my vote for Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a principled conservative and unifying leader. Shortly after casting that vote, my family and I started receiving death-threats. That is simply unacceptable, unforgivable, and will never be tolerated.”
It wasn't clear Thursday afternoon if the House would proceed to a third vote on Jordan. In the meantime Republicans are also considering a way to extend more power to interim Speaker Pro-tempore Rep. Patrick McHenry.