House Republicans gather behind closed doors on Tuesday to pick the leader who will guide them through two years in the minority. The secret-ballot contest pits Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana against Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio.

The winner replaces Speaker Mike Johnson as the top House Republican when the new Congress is sworn in. Johnson chose not to run after Democrats flipped more than 40 Republican seats in last week's midterm elections.

The choice will say a lot about which direction the party heads as it tries to win voters back.

Two very different pitches

Scalise, 61, is the safe pick. He has been the No. 2 House Republican since 2023 and has spent more than a decade in party leadership. In a letter to colleagues he promised a conservative style built on consensus. He told them his top goal is winning back the majority and asked them to hold him to it.

Jordan, 62, is a former college wrestling coach and a founder of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus. He has led the Judiciary Committee and served on the Oversight Committee. Both panels are about to become key battlegrounds as Democrats prepare a long list of investigations into the administration.

His message is that offense wins elections. In his own letter he knocked the current leadership team for living hour to hour without a clear plan. He said he knows how Democrats operate and is ready for the oversight fights to come.

A rematch from 2023

The two men have been here before. In 2023 both tried to replace Kevin McCarthy as speaker. Several candidates failed to lock down enough votes before the conference settled on Johnson.

Strategists say the job ahead is rough. Democrats won by a wide enough margin that the minority leader will have little leverage. Most of the work will be keeping the conference united, saying no to Democratic bills and plotting a path back to power in 2028. The president has stayed out of the race so far, though he backed Jordan three years ago.