SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Ohio representative Jim Jordan failed to win enough votes to secure the Speaker of the House position on Wednesday. Twenty-two Republicans voted against elevating Jordon to the powerful position.

“No person having received a majority, the whole number of votes cast by surname, a speaker has not been elected,” announced Rep. Patrick McHenry, Speaker of the House Pro Tempore.

Jordan came up short of the 217 votes needed to become Speaker. Representative Dusty Johnson of South Dakota was one of the 199 house members to vote in his favor.

“Jim Jordan won the Republican conference vote,” said Johnson. “He won the primary, it’s time for us to unify, go to the floor open the House back up, deal with the southern border, and stop, frankly, all of this paralysis.”

In Wednesday’s vote, Jordan got two fewer votes than the day before. Many opponents view Jordan as too extreme for the powerful speaker’s job, second in line to the president, but Johnson says none of the choices are perfect.

“We really do have work we’ve got to get done. We’ve got an ally at war, a southern border in crisis, and a government we cannot allow to shut down in 30 days.

“It is up to us, the big boys and big girls of the House, to get our act together, get a speaker, open it back up, and get to work,” said Johnson.

According to Johnson, the following steps are uncertain as Republican lawmakers float other options. One thing is for sure: this is a frustrating time for House Republicans.

“If Jim Jordan can’t get the votes, I don’t know what the path forward looks like,” said Johnson. “You can bring up almost any other name from left right, or center, and it is hard to get them a majority of the U.S. House. This is the political environment that we have created. In primaries on the right and the left voting for people who refuse to find common ground.”