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Paul Ryan May Run for Speaker Under Certain Conditions

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Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan told his party Tuesday night that he would run for Speaker of the House if it would bring unity to the GOP in the House.

He said he won't do it, though, without the support of all the Republican caucuses within the House.

"We as a conference should unify now," Ryan told reporters later. "What I told members is if you can agree to these requests and if I can truly be a unifying figure, then I will gladly serve, and if I am not unifying, that is fine as well - I will be happy to stay where I am."

Ryan told GOP leaders he won't travel as much as Boehner did to raise money for the party. He said his wife and three young children will still come first.

"I genuinely worry about the consequences that my agreeing to serve will have on them. Will they experience the viciousness and incivility that we all face here on a daily basis?" Ryan said.

"But my greatest worry, my greatest worry is the consequence of not stepping up, of someday having my own kids ask me, 'When the stakes were so high, why didn't you do all you could do, why didn't you stand and fight for my future?'" he said.

He made his terms clear and gave fellow Republicans until Friday to express their support.

Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz tweeted he's dropping out of the race and will support Ryan.

"He's the right person at the right time," Chaffetz said.

However, Ryan's biggest challenge may be getting the approval of the Freedom Caucus.

It is one of the most conservative groups within House Republicans and considered responsible for Speaker John Boehner's resignation. They also influenced Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's decision not to run to replace Boehner.

Will Ryan get their approval?  

"I think he has to campaign for it. We've heard one speech," Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., said. "We're willing to listen but it's the beginning of the conversation as far as I'm concerned." 

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