The guy is in his sophomore term. He's not getting the job.
Kevin McCarthy was elected a Majority Whip at the end of his sophomore term. Right, it's not Majority Leader but still, seniority is not as important regarding leadership positions as it is with committee assignments
Majority Whip is nowhere close to Majority Leader, even if are both elected to positions. You don't campaign to become Whip. The Leader selects his Whip candidate and everyone votes for you unopposed.
Whip is very much subject to a campaign. There's a big effort now to succeed McCarthy pitting Scalise against Roskam with Stutzman in the mix. When Newt became Speaker neither Newt nor Maj Leader Armey wanted Tom DeLay to be Whip but he got the votes anyway.
