Republican Study Committee chairman Jeb Hensarling has dropped out of the race to chair the House Republican Conference and has thrown his support behind Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, a fellow member of the conservative RSC who once chaired the body.

"Mike Pence was always my first choice for this position," Hensarling said, according to a released statement. "I asked him to run several times, and pending his final decision I was prepared to run for Conference Chair should he have chosen not to. If we are to begin the process of rebuilding a bigger, better, and stronger Republican Conference, we must make decisions based upon the good of the team rather than ourselves."

Hensarling managed Pence's long-shot run for minority leader following the 2006 mid-term elections. Minority Leader John Boehner, who defeated Pence by a wide margin to keep his leadership slot two years ago, has also announced his support for the Indiana Republican. The Conference chairmanship became vacant when Florida Rep. Adam Putnam announced he would be stepping down.

"I've encouraged Mike to run for the job of Conference Chairman because there is no one in our ranks who does a better job of articulating the GOP message of freedom and smaller government, and he's also proven himself to be a team player with the ability to bring our members together," Boehner said.

--Kyle Trygstad