Minnesota's Tom Emmer Running for Speaker of the House

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WJON News) -- Nine Republicans are now running for Speaker of the U-S House after more candidates jumped into the race before Sunday's deadline.

Minnesota 6th District Congressman Tom Emmer is possibly the best-positioned as majority whip, but victory is far from certain for him.

Emmer has the support of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who Sunday on Meet the Press called the Minnesota Republican "head and shoulders above all those others" and said "we need to get him elected this week."

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But Politico reports that former President Donald Trump is concerned about the possibility of Emmer becoming House speaker because he has not forcefully defended Trump against the indictments he's facing, and because Emmer criticized Trump after the January 6th riot at the U-S Capitol.