Benghazi Committee chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy would jump into the contest for House Majority leader if asked to do so, Rep. Mia Love said Tuesday.
“He said that he would join if he was asked to serve,” the Utah Republican, who is leading a draft Gowdy effort, told CNN.
Majority Whip Steve Scalise and Budget Chairman Tom Price are already in the race for the majority leader post after Rep. John Boehner steps down at the end of the month and current Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy seeks the speakership.
Gowdy’s office said that the former federal prosecutor’s attention is on chairing the special House committee investigation of the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya.
“Chairman Gowdy is focused on the Benghazi Committee and will serve in that capacity so long as the Committee exists,” the statement said.
Love’s fellow Utah representative Jason Chaffetz said Gowdy could unite the conference better than anyone else.
“I think Trey Gowdy as the majority leader would be heaven sent. It would really, really propel the Republicans in the right direction,” Chaffetz said Tuesday on Fox News.
“If you want the best person to make the Republican case, if you want the best person to talk about why conservatism is the right answer for America, Trey Gowdy is our best foot forward,” he added. “I think we as a conference need to get behind that and make it happen. And if he’s called, if he’s asked, I think he’ll do it.”
Gowdy was elected in the 2010 Tea Party wave in South Carolina.