Rosendale “Intends to Support” Scalise for Speaker of the House

Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT02) says he "intends to support" Steve Scalise (R-LA) for Speaker of the House, despite initially backing Ohio's Jim Jordan to replace former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Here's part of the statement Rosendale's office just released:

Rep. Rosendale: During the election in Conference, a majority of my colleagues voted for Steve Scalise, and I intend on supporting him when the vote comes to the Floor. I have had the pleasure of working with Steve, and while we may disagree on certain things, I do believe Steve will be able to unite the Conference.

Last week, Rosendale and 7 other Republicans voted with the Democrats to oust Kevin McCarthy as Speaker. The question now is- will Scalise have enough votes on the floor to actually become Speaker?

According to Fox News, Jim Jordan is now encouraging his supporters to vote for Scalise. "Some Republicans, including Reps. Chip Roy and Marjorie Taylor Greene have said they will not vote for Scalise."

By the way, check out the above photos from Getty Images. In one photo by Joe Raedle you can see both Rosendale and Montana's Western Congressman Ryan Zinke (R-MT01) coming out of the GOP conference meeting on Tuesday.  The conference took place in the Longworth House Office Building on October 10.

In the other photo, by Chip Somodevilla, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) emerges from a House Republican conference meeting after being nominated to be Speaker of the House.

Montanans that I have been hearing from have clearly been divided on the vote to oust McCarthy. Some see the 8 who ousted McCarthy as heroes while others called them "traitors."

According to the AP (for what it's worth):

One-quarter of Republicans say they approve of the decision by a small group of Republicans to remove McCarthy as speaker. Three in 10 Republicans believe it was a mistake, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.