By Annie Karni

WASHINGTON — Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., the minority leader, on Wednesday (9) announced his bid to be speaker even before it was clear his party would control the House, as GOP leaders began jockeying for power following a disappointing midterm showing.

With Republicans still clawing their way toward a majority that would be slim if it materialized — dashing McCarthy’s confident predictions of a “red wave” that could top 60 seats — the results exposed fresh vulnerabilities for the California Republican and a rough road ahead for him even if his party manages to prevail and he wins the top post in the House.

In a letter to Republican colleagues, McCarthy formally announced his run for speaker, expressing confidence about winning control of the chamber, even with some competitive races that could determine the majority undecided.

“I trust you know that earning the majority is only the beginning,” McCarthy wrote in a brief and somewhat muted letter. “Now, we will be measured by what we do with our majority.”

Instead of taking his anticipated victory lap, McCarthy spent much of Wednesday rushing to shore up his position among grouchy Republicans, including making calls to members of the hard-right Freedom Caucus that entailed early discussions about any demands in exchange for a promise to vote for him. Many members of the group were pressing for changing the rules to make it easier to topple the speaker, forcing McCarthy to begin his potential tenure as the person second in line to the presidency with conversations about how his colleagues might handle throwing him out.

The speakership rules were poised to be a central conflict point, and it was not clear what, if any, concessions McCarthy would be willing to make. The dilemma suggested that if Republicans clinch the majority, he would be the latest in a recent line of Republican speakers to be squeezed relentlessly by the party’s right flank, making it difficult to perform the basic duties of governing, such as keeping the government funded and raising the debt limit to avert a disastrous default on the nation’s debt.

This time, those tasks could become even more challenging given that, as of Wednesday night, the ranks of election deniers and extremists among House Republicans were poised to grow, expanding their influence — particularly if McCarthy were operating with a razor-thin margin, leaving little room for defections.

Many Freedom Caucus members were agitating for more representation on steering committees and prominent positions leading committees. The discussions demonstrated McCarthy’s recognition that his smaller margin of victory meant he would have to negotiate with the far-right elements of his party, a continuation of the tightrope he has walked as he has tried to cater to a group that may ultimately be his undoing.

Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., who had been seen as one of the few viable potential alternatives to McCarthy, announced his intention to run for the No. 2 position of majority leader, clearing away one of the biggest immediate obstacles to the California Republican’s ascent.

“I’m supporting Kevin McCarthy for speaker, and he will win that race,” Scalise told Fox News on Wednesday, putting to bed speculation that he might stage a last-minute challenge to McCarthy.

And Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, the No. 3 House Republican and another potential rival to McCarthy, reiterated in an interview with “Fox & Friends” her plans to run again for conference chair.

The emerging midterm outcome, which looked to be the poorest performance in decades for a party out of power, left McCarthy limping toward the finish line and still facing a threat from his restive right flank.

“I don’t understand why this is just a foregone conclusion,” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said of a McCarthy speakership. “I would say maybe not so fast. Maybe we should have a good discussion within the confines of our internal body.”

Speaking on a conservative talk show, “The Absolute Truth With Emerald Robinson,” Biggs added, “We were told we were going to have an incredible, incredible wave.”

As Republicans dealt with the sting of dashed hopes, Democrats privately forecast that they would hold at least 200 seats — short of a majority but above what had been expected by many strategists in both parties — even as the head of their campaign arm, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, lost his race.

On a private conference call with House Democrats, Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said they had pulled off a “remarkable achievement,” and said Maloney “took an arrow for us,” according to a person on the call who disclosed the remarks on the condition of anonymity. And she did not miss a chance to crow about what she said was a failed strategy by Republican leaders, saying that they had misspent millions of dollars, costing themselves potential seats.

For Republicans, the election night results were reminiscent of the midterm elections in 1998, when members turned on House Speaker Newt Gingrich after unexpected losses and forced him to give up the gavel. With no clear substitute to McCarthy waiting in the wings, that is not expected to happen this time.

“Frankly, there simply is no alternative,” said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla. “Without his candidate recruitment skills, fundraising prowess, shrewd strategy and keen tactics, there would be no Republican majority in the House.”

Many predicted that the person to take the fall for the underperformance would be Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., who served as chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee and is running for the No. 3 position of whip.

McCarthy maintained his typical jovial mood Wednesday morning, according to people who spoke with him, working the phones and predicting Republicans would end up with 225-230 seats in the House, which would constitute a larger majority than Pelosi holds.

But the dynamics had changed under his feet. For months, the rationale for McCarthy becoming speaker was based on the assumption that his party would win the House by a large margin. You don’t fire the football coach, Republican lawmakers often said, after he wins the Super Bowl.

Some Republicans expressed confidence, even as at least two dozen critical races remained unresolved, that they would eventually take the majority, arguing that a victory is a victory, regardless of its size, and McCarthy could still claim he won the big game.

“He’s going to say, ‘I kept the team together, I raised hundreds of millions of dollars,’ ” said Brendan Buck, a former top adviser to Reps. Paul Ryan and John Boehner, both Republican speakers who struggled to govern and maintain a grip on their majority amid frequent right-wing rebellions. “I don’t think members will see it as his fault. That is a different question, though, from whether some members see this as an opportunity for themselves.”

Of McCarthy’s prospects to become speaker, Buck added, “I do think he gets there; the question is what does he need to give away to do it.”

-New York Times