WASHINGTON – The race for House majority leader turned into a two-man contest between acting Majority Leader Roy Blunt, a Republican of Missouri, and the chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee, John Boehner, a Republican of Ohio, as two other potential candidates took themselves out of the running yesterday.

The chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, and Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis of California announced they would not run for any leadership post. A conservative who has maintained cordial ties with House leaders and moderates, Rep. John Shadegg of Arizona, was mulling whether to jump in.

If Mr. Blunt wins, a second race would be held to fill his current job, the no. 3 post of House majority whip. Reps. Mike Rogers of Michigan and Todd Tiahrt of Kansas said yesterday they will challenge the chief deputy whip, Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, who is the frontrunner for the position.

Mr. Cantor claimed 140 committed votes, more than enough to win the whip race, but allies of Messrs. Rogers and Tiahrt said many lawmakers gave their word to Mr. Cantor before alternatives emerged. The leadership vote, slated for February 2, will be by secret ballot.

House Republican aides and sources in all the camps said the race to reshape the party leadership is wide open since Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas announced over the weekend that he would not attempt to reclaim the majority leader post while under indictment in Texas on charges of campaign money laundering.

The race to succeed him is likely to shape up as a contest between candidates preaching the need for change in the face of a widening corruption scandal and those calling for unity, continuity, and competence.

“Leadership races are very hard to handicap,” a former majority leader, Richard Armey, a Republican Texas, said, adding that this one is particularly tricky, given the disappointment and anger over the spreading corruption scandal surrounding a former Republican lobbyist, Jack Abramoff. “Politicians are not good at managing their disappointment,” he said.

Mr. Boehner released a 37-page manifesto, asserting the Republican Party is “stuck in neutral and hesitant to push the accelerator.”

“We seem adrift, uncomfortable with our ability to reach big goals and unsure about what we stand for as a Conference,” Mr. Boehner wrote in a document that had been in preparation for weeks. “Lacking a common vision that expresses our hopes for what America can still become and our shared commitment to realizing those hopes, we’ve fallen into a dangerous and demoralizing cycle of the status quo, where we struggle instead of strive.”

Mr. Boehner aides released what they described as a partial list of 13 declared supporters, heavy on lawmakers from Mr. Boehner’s home state of Ohio and neighboring Kentucky, but also with Southerners such as Reps. Charles Boustany of Louisiana and Gresham Barrett of South Carolina and low-key back-benchers such as Reps. Thaddeus McCotter or Michigan and Jim Saxton of New Jersey. Also working on his behalf are former aides now in the lobbying world.

Mr. Blunt countered with 22 names, from moderate Rep. Chris Shays of Connecticut to conservative Rep. Sue Myrick of North Carolina, with many others closely aligned with the current leadership. Supporters said the acting majority leader and his team are working in private to round up votes by meeting with lawmakers, not through press appearances and flashy documents that they say Mr. Boehner favors.

Most House Republicans, especially conservative Westerners, remain up for grabs.

Some have openly expressed discontent that so far, of the five leadership positions, only the race for majority leader is certain. Rep. John Sweeney of New York cited DeLay’s departure, the Abramoff scandal, and a growing sense of party disunity in calling for a competition for all leadership posts, including the speakership.

“Given the circumstances of the last year, it is critical we do a reorganization in depth, a reorganization that presents real new ideas,” he said.