WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican Kevin McCarthy has dropped out of the race to be the next speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, members of the chamber said on Thursday, and the election to choose the next top leader in the chamber has been postponed.

In a meeting with fellow Republicans, McCarthy, 50, the current House majority leader, said that “I am not the one at this time,” according to Republican Representative Peter King.

House Republican Conference spokesman Nate Hodson said the election for Republican speaker nominee was postponed until a later date.

McCarthy was the favorite to be selected as the official party choice to replace John Boehner but his bid to become speaker in three weeks had become uncertain after a minority group of right-wing conservatives pledged on Wednesday to back a longshot candidate, Representative Daniel Webster of Florida.

Among other things, conservatives want to be allowed to offer more of their own amendments on the House floor. They say Webster, 66, a former speaker of the Florida statehouse, is better suited to meet their demands for a greater voice in the House as they push for a more confrontational stance with President Barack Obama.

“We need to see some real commitments,” Representative John Fleming, a Louisiana conservative, said on Thursday outside a forum where candidates made last-minute pitches. “We feel that conservatives have been greatly marginalized by the current leadership.”

Boehner announced last month he would resign effective Oct. 30.

The fight over the speakership is likely to affect Congress’ dealings with Obama, especially on upcoming fiscal measures to keep the government operating.

McCarthy’s ability to communicate Republican initiatives came into question last week when he made a connection between a House committee investigating a 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s falling public opinion poll numbers.

His statement bolstered Democrats’ charges that the House panel was created as a forum for attacking Clinton.

(Reporting by Susan Cornwell, Andy Sullivan and David Lawder; Editing by Richard Cowan and Lisa Von Ahn)