House Speaker race quickly becoming a congressional campaign issue in Alabama

Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) speaks at a Romney-Ryan campaign event in Toledo, Ohio (Photo: Starley Shelton)

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — While Republicans in Washington, D.C., prepare for an internal election for Speaker of the House, the debate surrounding who they will elevate to that lofty post is becoming a campaign issue 800 miles away in Alabama’s Second Congressional District.

It has been just over two weeks since John Boehner (R-Oh.) announced he would be stepping down as Speaker after years of struggling to hold together a fractious Republican caucus. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Cal.) appeared to be Boehner’s heir apparent, but he abruptly withdraw his name from consideration as it became clear hardline conservatives would not support his ascendance.

Other candidates have emerged, and dozens more appear to be mulling a run, but the campaign is now essentially frozen as Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan decides whether he will acquiesce to efforts to draft him into the race.

Some Republicans on Capitol Hill have described Ryan as the only congressman positioned to bridge the widening gap between the establishment and tea party factions of the GOP caucus, but some conservatives are not sold.

Among them is Becky Gerritson, a tea party leader challenging incumbent Martha Roby in Alabama’s Second District.

“I think the reason [they are pushing Ryan so hard] is because Washington is completely out of touch with the American people,” she told Breitbart News. “When you have 13 percent of the people supporting the Speaker and yet you want to replace him with someone just like him, it means they don’t have a clue what the American people really want. It’s time for them to wake up.”

Roby has not weighed in on Ryan’s potential candidacy, but she has had high praise for South Carolina Congressman Trey Gowdy, the staunchly conservative chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi who others have floated as potential House leadership material.

“Let me tell you what sets Trey Gowdy apart from other rising stars in the Republican Party,” said Roby, who also serves on the Benghazi Committee. “Trey has let his work speak for itself. He doesn’t showboat or take credit for things, he just works hard, tells it like it is, and people appreciate that.”

Similar to Ryan, Gowdy has so far resisted calls from his colleagues to run for Speaker or other leadership positions.

Roby and the rest of Alabama’s congressional delegation are not jumping to endorse a candidate, choosing instead to watch how things unfold, but a Roby spokesperson added that Gowdy is “an example of someone who [Congresswoman Roby believes] could unite the conference.”

This is not the first time a Speaker election has become a campaign issue in Alabama.

In August of 2013, not a single candidate participating in Alabama’s First Congressional District debate said they would unequivocally back John Boehner for Speaker.

Similarly, one of the campaign promises made in 2014 by then-candidate Gary Palmer in Alabama’s Sixth Congressional District was that he would not support Boehner for Speaker. In his first official act as a congressman, Palmer kept his promise by casting a vote for Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) to be Speaker of the House.

Leading up to his resignation announcement, Boehner had become intensely unpopular among Republicans nationwide. The Ohio Congressman was viewed favorably by just 37 percent of Republicans in a recent YouGov poll, while 50 percent viewed him unfavorably. More than two-thirds of tea partiers viewed him unfavorably, while only 24 percent said they held a favorable view.

But while Ryan is viewed with skepticism by some grassroots conservatives as a result of his support for so called comprehensive immigration reform and for backing Trade Promotion Authority (“ObamaTrade“), the Wisconsin congressman does not appear to be plagued by the same disdain among the broader Republican electorate.

Ryan stepped out of the limelight after his unsuccessful vice presidential bid in 2012 as one of the most well-liked Republicans in the country. A Gallup poll showed him with a 69 percent favorability rating among Republicans nationally, with only 12 percent saying they viewed him unfavorably.

Gerritson, however, believes Ryan would be “just like” Boehner, and pledged to make the Speaker’s race a campaign issue as Roby’s weighs who she will support.

“We need a conservative Speaker who stands up to the pressure from Washington and not be just like the establishment,” she said. “So I think it’s a huge mistake if she votes for [Ryan].”