House Republicans selected Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota to remain their party whip in the next Congress, elevating him to the conference’s No. 2 position despite frustration over last week’s sweeping midterm losses.

Emmer defeated Rep. August Pfluger of Texas, 103-76, in a secret-ballot vote, according to two people present for the tally. The contest tested whether Republicans wanted to retain an experienced leader or turn to a younger challenger who argued that the party’s leadership should have done more to protect its House majority.

Emmer, 65, will serve alongside Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, whom Republicans elected minority leader earlier Tuesday. Together, they will lead the House GOP through the final two years of President Donald Trump’s presidency as the party seeks to reverse Democrats’ gains in the 2028 elections.

The vote effectively moves Emmer up from the third-ranking position in House Republican leadership. He has served as majority whip since 2023, after helping the party secure its House majority in the 2022 midterms as chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Pfluger, 48, had been seeking a larger leadership role as chair of the Republican Study Committee. His challenge reflected discontent within the conference after the election, with the Texas Republican arguing that the existing leadership team should have done more to defend the majority.

Emmer’s career in House leadership has included a previous attempt at the top job. In 2023, after Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California lost the speaker’s gavel, Emmer won an internal Republican caucus vote for the post. Trump publicly opposed him, however, effectively ending his bid.

At the time, Emmer was viewed as skeptical of Trump’s Make America Great Again movement, but he has since grown closer to the president. His name had also circulated as a potential candidate for minority leader, though he decided several weeks before the midterms not to pursue the No. 1 position.