In a shocking development, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Thursday threw the contest for speaker wide open by suddenly dropping out of the race.

McCarthy, of California, was a sure bet to win the support of a majority of the GOP caucus during a vote that had been scheduled for Thursday, but it was uncertain whether rebellious conservatives would deny him the 218 votes he would need to be elected later this month.

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The vote among Republicans was rescheduled until Oct. 29.

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According to Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., McCarthy told Republicans that he didn’t think he could unite the Republican Party.

“I’m not the one,” McCarthy reportedly told Republicans during the meeting Thursday, to stunned silence.

“I just think it’s best to have a new face,” McCarthy told reporters early Thursday afternoon.

McCarthy has faced complaints from conservatives that he would be a kind of rerun of Speaker John Boehner, rebuffing them while favoring a more moderate course.

McCarthy had recently run into trouble by appearing to suggest that the House Select Committee on Benghazi was established for political purposes to sink the presidential campaign of Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Even some Republicans had begun to question McCarthy’s suitability to serve as speaker. Now they don’t have to worry about it.