WASHINGTON -- Reps. Jeb Hensarling and Pete Sessions, Texas Republicans seen as potential contenders to replace Eric Cantor as U.S. House majority leader, said Thursday that they are out of the running for the post.
"Although I am humbled by the calls, emails, and conversations from my colleagues encouraging me to return to leadership for the remainder of the 113th Congress, I will not be a candidate for majority leader next week," Hensarling, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said in a statement released by his office.
In a statement later Thursday, Sessions said that after thoughtful consideration and discussion with his colleagues, he had decided not to continue his run. The chairman of the House Rules Committee said it became obvious that a successful campaign for the post would have created painful divisions within the party and that the GOP must remain unified.
Their decisions clear the path to the No. 2 position in the House for Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, whose bid Cantor is backing.
The sudden opening in one of the most influential jobs in Washington stems from Cantor's surprise loss of a primary election contest Tuesday in his home district in Virginia.
McCarthy's main competition had been Sessions, who said earlier that he could unite the party.
"We, several times, have found ourself tangled in our ability to get all of our team together," Sessions said Thursday. "I can bring us together."
Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., who is backing McCarthy, said even before Sessions' announcement that the 49-year-old had enough support to win.
"It's over," McHenry said.
House leaders set next Thursday as the day for the Republican caucus to select a new leader, the swiftness of the contest seen as a boon to McCarthy's chances of securing it.
"It's important that we resolve this issue in a fair amount of time," House Speaker John Boehner said.
Boehner, R-Ohio, hasn't publicly backed a candidate. "I can work with whoever they select," he said Thursday.
A McCarthy victory would open up a race for majority whip, the No. 3 leadership position he now holds. The whip is responsible for counting votes and "whipping" up support for legislation.
At least three Republicans have said they would seek that position: Peter Roskam of Illinois, Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Marlin Stutzman of Indiana.
Roskam, 52, was elected to the House in 2006 and has been chief deputy whip since 2011.
Scalise, 48, is chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a group of lawmakers that backs policies designed to appeal to the party's base, including budget cuts and replacements for Obamacare.
Stutzman, 37, was elected in 2010, when a wave of Tea Party candidates helped Republicans win a majority of House seats.
Information for this article was contributed by Derek Wallbank, Michael C. Bender, Roxana Tiron, James Rowley, Cheyenne Hopkins and Mark Silva of Bloomberg News and by Donna Cassata of The Associated Press.
A Section on 06/13/2014