Boehner has already started whipping support for his candidacy for speaker, and his allies expect him to hold onto the gavel. The intra-party election will be next week, and the full House will vote for speaker of the House in January. Hensarling would’ve had a hard time beating Boehner, but was seen by some in the speaker’s orbit as a threat.
In May, Hensarling seemed to be mulling a challenge to Boehner. In an interview on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show, Hensarling said he would “wait until after November and decide what is it I can do to help advance the cause of freedom and free enterprise the best. And I’ll look around and see what I can do.”
“If you’re asking me to be Shermanesque, you know, I’m not sure they would ever invite me to play drums with Led Zeppelin, but you know, I’m not going to say no, just in case the invitation comes,” Hensarling said in May.
