Newt Gingrich, who served as House Speaker from 1995-99, is the overwhelming choice of likely Republican voters for the seat after the ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, according to a poll released Wednesday.
Gingrich was chosen by 53% of 850 respondents in an InsiderAdvantage survey conducted Tuesday, scoring 42 percentage points higher than his nearest competition, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who announced his candidacy Wednesday.
Although Gingrich has been out of public office for several years, he remains eligible to serve because the position does not require that the speaker be an elected member of the House.
Former President Donald Trump, who on Wednesday said he's focused on running for president but would not rule out becoming speaker, was not included in the poll because, in the past, he said he had no interest in the position.
The poll's results were:
- Gingrich: 53%.
- Jim Jordan: 11%.
- Steve Scalise: 3%.
- Tom Emmer: 2%.
- Elise Stefanik: 2%.
- Tom Cole: 1%.
- Garrett Graves:1%.
- Undecided: 27%.
The poll carried a margin of error of plus or minus 3.36 percentage points.
Gingrich on Tuesday slammed Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who filed the notion to vacate that led to McCarthy's ouster.
Gingrich has been speaking out about the McCarthy issue, writing in a Washington Post opinion piece that the party must expel Gaetz, calling him "actively destructive to the conservative movement."
"Gaetz has gone beyond regular drama," Gingrich wrote. "He is destroying the House GOP's ability to govern and draw a sharp contrast with the policy disasters of the Biden administration."
Gingrich acknowledged in the column that when he served 20 years in the House, including four as speaker, he "fought against the GOP establishment."
Wrote Gingrich: "I led the fight against President George H.W. Bush's 1990 tax increase after he had broken his word about 'no new taxes.' I felt bound to stay with my commitment to the American voters. Unlike Gaetz, though, when I rebelled, I represented the majority view of the caucus at the time."
Gingrich also on Tuesday lashed out against Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy, calling them "traitors" and telling Fox News that they should face primary challenges in 2024, The Hill reported.
"Ninety-six percent of the Republicans voted for McCarthy; 4 percent voted against him." Gingrich said. "From my position as a longtime Republican activist, they're traitors. All eight of them should, in fact, be primaried. They should all be driven out of public life."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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