Kevin Hern, of Oklahoma, jumping into race for speaker of the House

U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern, of Oklahoma, said Friday that he would run for the post of speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Hern's decision was reported by The Hill and confirmed by his chief of staff, Cameron Foster.

Hern, R-Tulsa, previously had been mentioned as a candidate for speaker but withdrew his name on Oct. 7. At that time, he posted a message on X, previously known as Twitter, saying the House GOP caucus needed unity.

“I’ve been on the phone 50+ hours with Republican members and what’s clear is we all want unity,” Hern wrote earlier this month. “I believe a three-man race for Speaker will create even more division and make it harder to elect a Speaker.”

On Oct. 11, Hern, 61, issued a media statement announcing he would seek the post of majority leader. He sent a letter to the GOP caucus, writing that "no one will outwork me as I fight for the policy wins that will help us expand our majority, take back the Senate, and win the White House."

Friday afternoon, Hern told The Hill that “it was pretty obvious that our delegation is looking at something to be different than what we’ve seen so far. I bring a different perspective than possibly anyone else that could be running in this race, spending a lifetime in business before coming here five years ago.”

In a later posting on X, Hern wrote that he voted for his good friend Jim Jordan to stay as speaker designate, "but the conference has determined he will no longer hold that title."

"We just had two Speaker Designates go down," Hern wrote. "We must unify and do it fast. I've spoken to every member of the conference over the last few weeks. We need a different type of leader who has a proven track record of success, which is why I'm running for Speaker of the House."

Hern's bid for speaker comes as congressional Republicans sought to regroup after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted from his post on Oct. 3 in a 216 to 210 vote. Since then the House GOP has struggled to name a new speaker.

Friday, speaker nominee Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, lost a third vote for the post, capping more than two weeks of turmoil. At the same time, the Republican caucus shot down an effort to give more authority to Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry, a Republican from North Carolina.

Should Hern be elected as speaker, he would become only the second Oklahoman to hold that post. In 1971, U.S. Rep. Carl Albert, a Democrat from Bugtussle, an unincorporated town in Pittsburg County, became speaker. Albert held the post until 1975. Albert also served as a de facto vice president twice, once when former Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned from office and a second time when Vice President Gerald Ford became president after the resignation of Richard Nixon.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Rep. Kevin Hern, of Oklahoma, running for speaker of the House