Nine Republicans are vying to become the next House speaker. These are the candidates

Deeply divided Republican lawmakers this week are trying to coalesce around a nominee for speaker of the House of Representatives for a third time, after their two previous candidates failed to secure enough backing in the party.

The speaker race is now wide open with nine GOP lawmakers running for the party’s nomination after Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan’s bid for the gavel failed in three votes last week.

The House has been leaderless for well over two weeks, with no resolution in sight, leaving Congress paralyzed as the clock ticks toward a Nov. 17 deadline to avoid a government shutdown. President Joe Biden has also called on lawmakers to pass urgent security assistance for Israel and Ukraine.

House Republicans will hold a closed-door candidate forum at 6:30 p.m. ET Monday, with an internal party vote scheduled for 9 a.m. ET Tuesday to select the next GOP nominee.

Interim House Speaker Patrick McHenry of North Carolina said he wants the nominee to face a House vote as soon as Tuesday.

Republicans ditched Jordan on Friday. His failure came after the party’s original nominee, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, bowed out of the race because he could not secure enough GOP votes. It is deeply uncertain whether any of the nine candidates can succeed where Jordan and Scalise failed.

Democrats have lined up in lockstep behind their nominee, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. This means the GOP nominee can only lose four Republican votes given the party’s narrow majority in the House.

Only two of the nine GOP candidates, Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota and Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia, voted to certify President Joe Biden’s victory in 2020 presidential election. The other seven GOP speaker candidates…