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

WASHINGTON - 26 July 2018: 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.

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.