Kat Cammack Takes Over Florida's GOP House Delegation as Greg Steube Loses Leadership Bid and Jim Jordan Leads a Shrunken Minority

Florida's congressional Republicans picked new leadership this week for life in the House minority, unanimously electing U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack of Gainesville as Republican chair of the state's delegation, even as Sarasota Rep. Greg Steube's bid to join the national GOP leadership fell short and Ohio's Jim Jordan won the race to lead House Republicans in the next Congress.

The moves, reported Tuesday and Wednesday by Florida Politics and the Florida Phoenix, show both the opportunity and the limits facing Florida's 20 House Republicans. They kept their 20 seats in the Nov. 3 midterms while Republicans lost more than 40 seats nationally, which makes Florida a bigger slice of a much smaller conference. But the Florida bloc will have no Florida member in the top tier of the new GOP leadership team.

Cammack takes over from Buchanan

Cammack succeeds U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, the Longboat Key Republican who is retiring after leading the Florida Republican delegation since 2012. The post also makes her co-chair of the full bipartisan Florida delegation alongside U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Broward Democrat who leads the Democratic side.

Cammack, who launched the Republican Women's Caucus last year and has served on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, won her own re-election by about 12 percentage points over Democrat Seth Harp, according to Florida Politics. In a statement, she called the delegation "a powerhouse on Capitol Hill" and described the chair job as "a critical, Florida-first leadership role."

Buchanan said leading the delegation for 14 years was "one of the greatest privileges" of his life and called Cammack a worthy successor.

Other Florida assignments

The delegation also filled several internal posts, according to Florida Politics:

• Mario Díaz-Balart of Hialeah, dean of the delegation, and Mike Haridopolos of Indian Harbour Beach will represent Florida on the House Republican Steering Committee, which helps decide committee assignments.
• Scott Franklin of Lakeland will serve as policy chair.
• Rep.-elect Ryan Elijah of Sanford, who narrowly won the 7th District, will serve as policy co-chair.

The Steering Committee seats may matter most in practice. With Democrats taking the gavels and the majority's share of committee seats, Republicans will have fewer slots to hand out, which raises the stakes for any delegation trying to place members on panels that shape disaster aid, agriculture, space and defense spending.

Cammack's pitch: move as a bloc

In an interview with Florida Politics published Wednesday, Cammack said Florida's 20 Republicans, which she described as the second-largest Republican delegation in the House, should act as a single unit to win projects for the state, "from disaster aid to infrastructure needs."

She also said she expects more cooperation with Wasserman Schultz than in the past, pointing to areas where Florida Republicans and Democrats have found common ground: the military, ports, agriculture, homeland security, disaster recovery and mitigation, and a moratorium on drilling in the Gulf. The two have worked together on breast cancer fundraising and play on the congressional softball team, Cammack said.

Cammack has worked with Franklin on the Freeze Disaster Assistance Act, which would provide $3.5 billion in emergency aid to Florida agriculture after this year's unseasonable freezes, and with Rep. Aaron Bean of Fernandina Beach to secure $40 million for JAXPORT, Florida Politics reported.

Steube's leadership bid falls short

Steube, who represents the 17th District covering Sarasota, Charlotte and part of Lee County, had sought to become chair of the House Republican Conference, the No. 3 post in GOP leadership. He finished third in Tuesday's secret-ballot vote with 27 votes, behind incumbent Chair Lisa McClain of Michigan with 93 and Rep. Erin Houchin of Indiana with 57, according to Florida Politics. Cammack nominated him.

Steube entered the race only last week, arguing that Republicans lost because they "failed to deliver on the promises we made," not because they were too conservative, the Florida Phoenix reported. After the election he had sharply criticized GOP leaders in both chambers on social media. He pointed to his own result, a win of more than 18 points over Democrat Matthew Montavon, as evidence his approach works. He declined to comment after the vote.

Florida Politics noted that Steube faced structural hurdles: McClain, as a sitting leader, had been in contact with incoming freshmen, while many of Steube's relationships were with members who lost their seats and had no vote.

Jordan wins the top job

The conference chair vote followed Jordan's 106-73 win over outgoing Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana for Republican leader, according to the House Republican Conference and The Associated Press. Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana did not seek the post. Republicans also re-elected Tom Emmer of Minnesota as whip over August Pfluger of Texas, kept McClain as conference chair and picked Georgia Rep. Brian Jack to lead the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and a co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus, will lead what the Florida Phoenix described as the smallest House Republican minority since the 1990s. As of Tuesday the AP had called 166 seats for Republicans and 255 for Democrats, with a handful of races still undecided. Florida Politics projected a GOP conference of about 176 members, meaning Florida Republicans will account for more than one in nine House Republicans.

Democrats hold their own leadership elections next week. Hakeem Jeffries of New York is expected to become speaker, and Democrats will also control the Senate in January, where Senate Republicans voted Tuesday to keep John Thune of South Dakota as their leader. Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who challenged GOP leadership in 2022 and 2024, said over the weekend he would not run against Thune.

What it means for Florida

In the minority, Florida's House Republicans lose the committee gavels and agenda control that came with the majority. Their leverage will come from votes on must-pass spending bills and from bipartisan work on Florida-specific needs, which is where Cammack has placed her emphasis. The delegation's newest Republicans, Elijah, Sydney Gruters, Austin Rogers, Jim Schwartzel and Joe Strada, attended new-member orientation in Washington this week along with incoming Florida Democrats Pia Dandiya and Oliver Gilbert, according to Florida Politics.

Disaster aid is likely to be the first test. Florida is seeking federal help for this fall's flooding and continues to recover from Hurricane Isaias, which made landfall in Destin on Oct. 9.

What's next

Committee assignments for the 120th Congress will be negotiated over the coming weeks, largely through the Steering Committee process where Díaz-Balart and Haridopolos now hold Florida's seats. House Democrats vote on their leadership next week, and the 120th Congress convenes Jan. 3.