Jordan and his allies scramble to pick up more GOP votes before second speaker vote on Wednesday

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and his allies are working overtime on Tuesday to win over at least 17 of the Republicans who opposed his House speakership bid on the floor, resulting in a second voting round getting pushed to Wednesday.

The final vote in the first round was 200 for Jordan, 212 for House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and 20 votes from Republicans for other candidates.

Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., was reportedly not attending the vote on Tuesday due to a funeral, leaving 432 members present in the chamber. He's expected to return on Wednesday. A simple majority of members voting is needed to win the speakership, which is currently 217.

In total, 20 Republicans chose other candidates in the first round of voting, which was more than enough to sink Jordan's chances of clinching the speakership in this round.

Some of those 20 voted for former Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., even though he has urged his colleagues not to consider him for the job after he was removed from his post on Oct. 3.

Since the first round of voting, Jordan has been able to flip one of the holdouts: Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., who had voted for McCarthy.

Reps. Don Bacon, R-Neb., Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., Jen Kiggans, R-Va., Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., and Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., also voted for McCarthy.  

Reps. Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y., Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., and Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., were the 3 Republicans who voted for former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y.

Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, Kay Granger, R-Texas, Mike Kelly, R-Pa., John Rutherford, R-Fla., Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, Steve Womack, R-Ark., all backed House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who won the first House GOP conference speaker election over Jordan but later dropped out due to a lack of votes to win on the House floor.

Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., voted for Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn. Rep. John James, R-Mich., voted for Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla. Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., voted for Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Rep. Jake Ellzey, R-Texas, voted for Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif.

House Republican leaders are hoping to avoid a repeat of the marathon speaker election from January that McCarthy won after 15 voting rounds. Despite that, if four of those 20 continue to refuse to support Jordan in each round, there doesn't appear to be a backup candidate who can unite the conference at this time. 

"There's no Paul Ryan in this race," Massie, who opposed the effort to remove McCarthy, said on Tuesday after the first round.

Massie noted that Ryan was the backup to McCarthy, who dropped out of the speaker's race in 2015 after John Boehner resigned. Paul Ryan, the 2012 GOP vice presidential nominee, ultimately won the speakership.

"There is no close second to Jim Jordan now. I do think Jim Jordan is going to make it this week," Massie said.

Meanwhile, a proposal that was previously floated as an option, which would install Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C. as a temporary speaker, appears to be gaining steam after Jordan came up short by 20 votes. At this time, it is unclear when that resolution would be brought to the floor, if at all. If enough Republicans oppose it, the resolution would need some Democrat votes to pass it.