Conservative rep plans to run for GOP leadership post

Rep. Bill Flores (R-Texas), the chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC), plans to run for an open slot in House GOP leadership.

{mosads}Flores is expected to email House Republicans later Wednesday to announce his candidacy to be vice chairman of the GOP conference, a senior Republican staffer familiar with Flores’s plans said.

Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.), the current vice chairwoman, is not expected to run for reelection to her leadership slot. The Hill reported this week that Jenkins is eyeing a possible bid for governor of Kansas in 2018.

Flores is term-limited as chairman of the RSC through the end of this year. The RSC is expected to hold an election to pick Flores’s successor next week, on Nov. 17.

The Texas Republican is the first lawmaker to announce a bid for a slot in the elected GOP leadership. The House is slated to return on Monday after being in recess for six weeks so lawmakers could campaign for reelection.

There’s another expected opening in the House GOP leadership hierarchy: GOP conference secretary. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), who currently holds the position, will likely become chairwoman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee in the next Congress.

So far, no one has announced a candidacy for the conference secretary slot.