OSU political science professor weighs in on Jim Jordan losing first vote

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — One of the top political minds at Ohio State University is weighing in on Jim Jordan potentially becoming the next House speaker.

Paul Beck, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the Ohio State University, said he’s not surprised that Jordan failed in the first vote.

He said that the first vote shows how deep the divide is in the Republican party.

Beck said he believes if Jordan starts to lose votes in the next few counts he will not recover. He said if Jordan is elected, he will represent the most extreme faction of the Republican party.

“There’ll be a lot of members who aren’t happy about that. On the other hand, they recognize how bad it looks to the country if the Republicans can’t settle on a speaker. And so, I think they’re really kind of pulled apart on this. On the one hand, they really don’t want Jordan to be the speaker. On the other hand, they really do want to have a speaker,” Beck said.

Beck said it’s also important to note that if Jordan is elected, he will come with baggage: the Richard Strauss sexual harassment case.

“Representative Jordan has denied that they knew anything about that. There are a number of people who are wrestlers at the time who have said he knew about it,” Beck said. “It’s conceivable that even if Representative Jordan is elected as speaker, that this is going to come back to haunt it during his speakership. And we’ll just have to see how that plays out again.”

Beck said if Jordan is elected it will be interesting to see if he uses his power to benefit the state.