Senate Republicans reelected Mitch McConnell as minority leader on Wednesday in a leadership election that again displayed a rift within the Republican party following disappointing results in the midterm elections.
In the first challenge to McConnell’s leadership in 15 years, Sen. Rick Scott of Florida announced on Tuesday his intention to run for the position, citing his deep disappointment in the results of the midterm elections and saying that Senate Republicans must be more “bold and resolute” than in the past.
“We must start saying what we are for, not just what we are against,” Scott wrote in a letter addressed to his colleagues on Tuesday.
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But the Kentucky lawmaker, who has led Senate Republicans since 2007, confidently responded on Tuesday, welcoming the challenge and declaring he had the votes. And in Wednesday’s leadership elections, he did.
McConnell was approved by a 37-10 vote to maintain his position as minority leader on Wednesday, after Democrats hung on to control of the upper chamber in last week’s elections.
Although McConnell maintained his post, the leadership election was a notable one, as some lawmakers attempted to postpone the vote until after the Georgia Senate runoff that could provide them with one more member in Herschel Walker and as Scott’s challenge, which former President Donald Trump endorsed, delivered a notable shakeup for the upper chamber.
After teasing his presidential announcement last week, Trump piled on to criticism of McConnell he has employed for months, while praising Scott as a worthy replacement as well as backing House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California for House speaker.
McCarthy won his party’s nomination for speaker on Tuesday, ahead of securing an official House majority with 188 votes, despite a challenge from Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona that drew 31 defectors. But as the party appears likely to control the chamber with only a slim margin, McCarthy may struggle to secure the 218 votes needed to be named speaker by the entire chamber in January.
A challenge from Biggs on Tuesday, although modest, exhibited the pushback from some corners of the party on a McCarthy speakership. But Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia broke with her far-right colleagues who threatened to turn away from McCarthy, saying that “if we don’t unify behind Kevin McCarthy, we’re opening up the door for the Democrats to be able to recruit some of our Republicans.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana faced no competition in his bid for majority leader on Tuesday, while Campaign Chair Elise Stefanik of New York will remain in her position for another term.
This week’s Republican leadership elections come against the backdrop of Trump’s announcement of a 2024 presidential bid, which seems to have divided the party, especially since a disappointing showing in the midterm elections where voters generally turned away from more extreme candidates in favor of normalcy, including among some Trump-backed candidates. Accordingly, some Republicans appear to be looking to show their support elsewhere, as a formidable opponent for Trump emerges in Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
