Washington ? Arizona conservative Rep. John Shadegg jumped into the contest to become the No. 2 Republican in the House on Friday, shaking up a touchy contest about the party’s direction in what could be a difficult election year.

Shadegg joins Missouri Rep. Roy Blunt and Ohio Rep. John Boehner in the race to replace former Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, who announced a week ago that he would not try to regain the post under pressure from Republicans concerned about his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Shadegg came to Congress as part of the firebrand freshman class of 1994, which brought Republicans control of the House for the first time in 40 years. He said he doesn’t have confidence that the other contenders for the position would help the House bring about enough change.

He cast himself as a Republican in the tradition of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan.

“I believe in the power of Republican ideas, and I believe that we need a clean break from the scandals of the recent past,” Shadegg said.

Blunt has been acting majority leader since DeLay was indicted last fall on charges of laundering campaign funds. He claims the lead in the race with more than 80 publicly committed supporters. Boehner has 40 such supporters and Shadegg has just a handful, though many of the undecideds are conservative lawmakers who are part of his natural constituency.

The Club for Growth, which raises money for conservative candidates and often weighs in on GOP primary races, endorsed Shadegg on Friday.

“There is no member of the House of Representatives more committed to the idea of limited government and economic freedom than John Shadegg,” said Club for Growth president Pat Toomey.

Blunt is also GOP whip, which gives him an advantage in reaching out to members. He is the candidate naturally linked to the current leadership team, which rarely loses a vote and has learned to accommodate different wings of the party in assembling coalitions.

But the simple fact that Blunt hasn’t wrapped up the race may be a sign of widespread discontent among the rank and file about the state of the party’s leadership in the House.

Winning the post requires 116 votes in the 231-member GOP caucus.

In a jab at Blunt, who refuses to give up the No. 3 whip job as he runs for majority leader, Shadegg said he will give up his junior leadership post as Republican policy chairman because “it is not appropriate to try to retain one position in our elected leadership while running for another.”

A crowded race for the GOP whip post is shaping up nonetheless, with Blunt’s top deputy, Eric Cantor, R-Va., claiming an insurmountable lead. But Reps. Todd Tiahrt, of Kansas, Zach Wamp, of Tennessee, and Mike Rogers, of Michigan, are contesting the race, saying Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., needs new faces at the leadership table.

“The Republican conference has a lot of work to do to regain the confidence of the American people,” Tiahrt said.