Tom Emmer

Texas Rep. August Pfluger is challenging Minnesota’s Rep. Tom Emmer for the post of House Republican whip. Pfluger said after the election results that Emmer “missed many opportunities.”

U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer was reelected to a seventh term last week, but he faces another contest on Tuesday as he fights to keep his leadership position with House Republicans.

Texas Republican Rep. August Pfluger is challenging Emmer for the position of House Republican whip. Pfluger announced his challenge a day after the election, which saw the GOP lose both chambers of Congress.

In the House, Republicans to date have seen a net loss of 42 seats to Democrats, with a handful of races still uncalled. Pfluger said House Republican leaders should have done more to stem that tide.

“The Minority Whip office should be much more than a vote-counting operation,” Pfluger said in a letter to Republican colleagues obtained by the Minnesota Star Tribune. “It should be the nerve center of a unified Republican team: anticipating problems, empowering Members, and helping every Republican succeed.”

Emmer declined to comment when asked how he feels about his chances on Tuesday.

The challenge to his leadership comes as Republican scramble to reposition themselves after the election and choose leadership for a Capitol where they will no longer be in control.

Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana announced he would not run for House minority leader after Republicans lost the chamber, leaving House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio battling for minority leader.

Like Emmer, Republican Conference Chair U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan also faces competition to retain her post.

The House Republican caucus is set to vote on leadership posts Tuesday afternoon via a secret ballot. If Emmer wins, he will be the second-highest ranking Republican in the much diminished caucus.

“I think that Tom will win and I think he should win, but it’s a terrible environment. Republicans have been decimated,” said former Minnesota GOP Rep. Vin Weber, a one-time member of House leadership. “I understand the impulse of Republicans who may have the attitude of let’s clean house here.”

Minnesota Republican Reps. Michelle Fischbach and Pete Stauber declined to comment on whether they would back Emmer. The state’s other GOP member of Congress, Rep. Brad Finstad, said “I don’t know yet” when asked who he was supporting for whip. Finstad may not be returning to D.C. next year — he is trailing his Democratic challenger, Jake Johnson, by 323 votes in their southern Minnesota district, and is requesting a recount.

“As your Republican Whip, I will continue to be direct, honest, and transparent. We have never made false promises or tried to buy your votes. My role is to support every Member of this conference and help you succeed,” Emmer told Republican colleagues in a letter obtained by Punchbowl News.

“Success will feel different in the minority—and often less satisfying—but will require no less support and unity in our conference,” he added.

Ahead of the leadership vote, a handful House Republican members declined to comment on whom they planned to support.

Rep. John Rutherford of Florida said he was “leaning towards Tom” in the race and said he thinks Emmer has generally done a “good job.” But he admitted that he was still undecided and wanted to hear more from Pfluger about his leadership plan.

“I don’t really think this blue wave was the fault of our leadership,” Rutherford said. “I think it was really more our failed communication.”

Emmer won a competitive race for whip in 2022 after he led the National Republican Congressional Committee and Republicans won a slim majority in the lower chamber that year.

But his 2023 bid to be the GOP’s House speaker ended in a matter of hours after President Donald Trump called Emmer a “RINO” — Republican in name only — and sank his chances.

In 2024, Emmer was re-elected unanimously as whip at a time when Republicans were largely unified during their House leadership elections after the party won control of Congress and the presidency.

Emmer and Trump have since reconciled their differences. The president called him “one of the most powerful men in Washington” and a “brilliant political mind and a great guy and a friend of mine” during a rally in Florida before the midterms.

Emmer easily retained his seat on Nov. 3, winning Minnesota’s strongly Republican Sixth District by 12 percentage points — though it was the smallest margin of victory of his congressional career.

Emmer crisscrossed the country leading up to the midterm election, spending from his $24 million Emmer Majority Builders PAC to help elect House Republicans. That included $33,000 to support Finstad.

He also endorsed GOP state Sen. Eric Pratt, who lost the Second District race south of the Twin Cities to Democrat Matt Little.

On election night, Emmer was in Washington, D.C., instead of Minnesota. It was the second election in a row he spent out of state. In 2024, he spent election night at Mar-A-Lago with Trump.

“[Emmer] can afford to be arm’s length,” said David Sturrock, a political science professor at Southwest Minnesota State University and a former official in the Minnesota Republican Party. “When you’re in the leadership, boy, your life is a lot different than if you’re a rank and file member.”

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