Rep-elect Ryan Zinke walks from a closed-door meeting with the GOP Conference during the opening day of the 118th Congress at the U.S. Capitol, Jan 3, 2023. Zinke suggested some McCarthy detractors seemed to be profiting from their opposition.
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Chatter about a potential Senate run spiked up when Rosendale took center stage to nominate Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) for speaker on Thursday afternoon.

“Truthfully, I didn’t realize he was running for Senate until just a few minutes ago. I had a conversation with somebody,” said Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), a McCarthy ally, who said he was told Rosendale was mulling a run.

“You’d be naive to say that you don’t consider everything you do under a spotlight,” Mast continued, when asked if he thought statewide ambitions were motivating some of the anti-McCarthy Republicans.

Another clash is brewing in the larger Indiana delegation, with both Banks and Spartz considering runs for an open Senate seat.

Banks, the former chair of the Republican Study Committee, is a McCarthy ally. After initially backing McCarthy for speaker, Spartz switched her vote to “present” on the fourth ballot.

She said she made the change to encourage Republicans on both sides to resume negotiations and find a solution. “Stalemate is not an option,” she said.

Asked if her constituents wanted McCarthy as speaker, she said: “People in Indiana don’t elect speakers. They elect us.”

Banks, a veteran elected in 2016, represents a district in the state’s northeast corner. He said he would spend the holiday season weighing a Senate bid for the seat, which is open because incumbent Mike Braun decided to launch a run for governor.

“I only can talk on behalf of myself,” Spartz said when asked if Banks felt Indiana voters wanted McCarthy to be speaker. “But maybe you should ask.”

Spartz, who was born in Ukraine, is also reported to be considering a run for Senate, though she has been quieter on her intentions.

Both Spartz and Rosendale have received backing in the past from the anti-tax Club for Growth, which announced that it would support McCarthy’s speaker bid in exchange for some key concessions. One major one: that the Congressional Leadership Fund, a McCarthy-aligned super PAC, would vow to stay out of open primaries in safe Republican seats.

Still, they are only two among some 20 anti-McCarthy members who have refused to budge for days. Nearly all of them would cite deeply held principles to explain their votes — not potential statewide runs.

But more than a few colleagues have cast doubt on the sincerity of that reasoning.

“Are you saying that there’s egos and attitudes up here? No way,” said Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas).