Jim Jordan was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2014 (Photo/Larry Slater)Jim Jordan, four-time Ohio high school state wrestling champ and twice an NCAA titlewinner for the University of Wisconsin, lost in his bid to become minority leader for the Republican party in the House of Representatives Wednesday.
Jordan, who represents the 4th Congressional district in western and north-central Ohio and leads the House Freedom Caucus, lost to Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, 43 votes to McCarthy's 159, in a closed–door meeting of House Republicans yesterday.
Jordan, in an interview after the vote, said he knew it was an "uphill battle" to unseat McCarthy, who has been a member of the Republican leadership team for nearly a decade.
The Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun reported that Jordan had said as he made his case to be minority leader, he asked a few fundamental questions: "Why did Republicans lose the House majority?" "What's the lay of the land in the next Congress?" "What do we have to do -- what changes were necessary -- to win the House back?"
Jordan said his race against McCarthy "was never personal."
As InterMat reported back in April 2018, when current Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, announced he would not be running for re-election, Jordan was being talked about as a possible successor to Ryan. However, in the midterm elections earlier this month, Democrats took control of the House, and thus will be selecting the Speaker.
A native of western Ohio north of Dayton, Jim Jordan graduated from nationally-ranked Graham High School in St. Paris, Ohio in 1982 as a four-time state wrestling champion with a record of 150-1. (Jim Jordan's brother Jeff recently retired as St. Paris Graham head wrestling coach.)
Jordan wrestled at the University of Wisconsin at 134 pounds from 1982-1986, where he was a two-time Big Ten conference champ, a three-time NCAA All-American and twice an NCAA champion. Jordan later served as an assistant coach at Ohio State.
Jim Jordan was welcomed into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Okla. in 2014 as an Outstanding American, a category which honors individuals from the sport of wrestling whose accomplishments are notable beyond wrestling.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now