Conservative Republican Jordan to run for U.S. House speaker

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Conservative U.S. Republican Representative Jim Jordan said Thursday he will run for Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives if his party keeps the majority after November elections.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH) walks into a Speaker’s office on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 23, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

Jordan, one of the most influential conservatives in Congress, sent a letter to his colleagues announcing his decision, a spokesman for the congressman said. The current Speaker, Republican Paul Ryan, is not running for re-election this fall.

Jordan is a co-founder and former chairman of the House Freedom Caucus group of hardline conservatives. Recently several former wrestlers at Ohio State University have accused Jordan, a former wrestling coach, of failing to stop molestation by an athletic doctor at the university years ago. Jordan has denied the allegations.

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