Rep. Zach Wamp has entered the race for House Majority Whip.
He sent a letter on Tuesday to fellow House members asking their vote.
Rep. Wamp said recently he felt his chances might not be good for election to a GOP post because he had taken an independent stance on some issues.
Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., who is the current chief deputy whip, is considered a leading candidate for the job
Here is the text of the Wamp letter:
Dear House Republican Colleague,
Thank you for the privilege of being your colleague and for playing a role in the most important work of preserving freedom and ensuring sound public policy. Working together we will bring about positive change even through conflict, and strengthen our character through adversity. If we stand on principle, we will successfully face any challenge.
Now that Speaker Dennis Hastert has laid out plans to elect a new Majority Leader, we realize that the possibility exists this could lead to another vacancy in leadership in the post of Majority Whip.
I respectfully ask for your thoughtful consideration to this post should it become vacant. We have an extraordinary midterm opportunity to renew our commitment to the core principles which brought us into the majority with my class in 1994.
We should push even more to reform the government, which still lags behind our awesome free enterprise system, and we must re-establish ourselves as the party of responsibility to preserve opportunity for generations to come.
Our mantra should be "policy before politics" and we should stick to our guns with the faith that the American people will stay with us as we stand our ground.
In the coming days please pray for each other and the cause to which we have committed. Prepare to search your heart for the right decision as to who should be selected to lead our Conference of leaders.
The status quo will not suffice. We must move forward and respond to the call for change.
All my best to every one of you.
Sincerely,
Zach Wamp