A Look at the Little-Known New Candidate for Speaker

When a surprise new challenger emerged Friday for the House speakership, everyone but the most diehard political junkies could be forgiven for asking, "Austin who?" That would be GOP Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia, for whom the descriptor "little-known" was being applied often in coverage. "We are busily googling Austin Scott right now," one House Democrat told Axios. Some basics:

• The 53-year-old Scott is a "mainstream conservative" and an ally of ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy, per the New York Times. Scott has served in Congress since 2011 and sits on the influential Intelligence Committee.
• He has been openly critical of the hard-right flank in the House that removed McCarthy from his leadership post, per the AP. "It makes us look like a bunch of idiots," he told CNN earlier this week.

• After Steve Scalise withdrew from the speaker's race on Thursday night, Scott made clear that he would not support new front-runner Jim Jordan. The Hill sees him as an "apparent protest" candidate against Jordan, though Scott told reporters Friday, "Jim's a friend of mine."
• The move further complicates Jordan's path toward receiving the necessary 217 votes to become speaker. "I assume a large block of people that work for Steve will probably start out with Austin," GOP Rep. Warren Davidson, a Jordan backer, told the Hill.
• "When I woke up this morning, I had no intention of doing this," Scott told reporters. "But I believe if we as Republicans are going to make the majority, we have to do the right things the right way. And we're not doing that right now."

(More Austin Scott stories.)