Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer both reelected as party leaders

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was elected Tuesday to lead the GOP conference for yet another term.

The vote was unanimous among Senate Republicans, a GOP aide confirmed to The Washington Times.

The Kentucky Republican defeated Democratic challenger Amy McGrath by nearly 20 points last week to secure his seventh term in office.

First elected as GOP leader in 2006, and the party whip before that, Mr. McConnell continues to hold the record for the longest-serving Republican leader.

The rest of the GOP leadership team remained the same as well, with the sole exception of Sen. Rick Scott.

Sen. John Thune of South Dakota is the party whip; Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming is GOP conference chair; Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa is vice chair; and Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri is the policy chairman.

Mr. Scott, Florida Republican, is the newest addition to the leadership team, as the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. The position was previously held by Sen. Todd Young of Indiana.

“I know the job is to make sure we have a Republican majority in the Senate. First, we got to go win in Georgia,” Mr. Scott said.

Control for the Senate next term is still not set in stone, with two tight Georgia Senate races set for runoffs in January to determine if Democrats can tie Republicans’ number of seats.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer was also elected to lead the Democratic conference for a third term, a Senate Democratic aide confirmed.

The Senate leadership team also remained mostly the same, bringing on members from both ends of the party such as progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat, as conference vice chair and more moderate Sen. Joe Manchin, from West Virginia, as Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC) vice chair.

Sens. Cory A. Booker of New Jersey and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada were both new additions to the team as DPCC vice chair and Outreach vice chair, respectively.