Senate Republicans elected their first new leader in 18 years on Wednesday, choosing to elevate their second-ranking official instead of a major changing of the guard that the grassroots MAGA movement sought.
Sen. John Thune, South Dakota Republican, won a three-way race to become Senate majority leader in the next Congress. He defeated Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida for the top Republican leadership post.
Mr. Thune, 63, replaces Sen. Mitch McConnell, 82, of Kentucky, who announced this year that he would step down after a record-breaking 18 years as Republican leader.
Mr. Thune will rise from his current No. 2 spot as Senate Republican whip.
Some senators acknowledged that elevating a current leader may anger the Republican base, but even those who did not vote for Mr. Thune said they were confident he would execute President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda.
“I’m not disappointed that Thune’s in there because he’s going to have to work with President Trump,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville, Alabama Republican, told The Washington Times. “And President Trump knows that Thune was not with him the whole time, but neither was [Vice President-elect] J.D. Vance. So it all works out.”
Mr. Tuberville supported Mr. Scott, whom he called a “better fit” based on his business background and relationship with Mr. Trump. Many of Mr. Trump’s top surrogates, including Elon Musk, Charlie Kirk and Tucker Carlson, also pushed that way. He said his phone “lit up” with constituents asking him to vote for Mr. Scott.
Other senators received similar calls but said they didn’t let the pressure campaign influence their decisions.
“It’s not a vote on a budget. It’s a vote on who do we have the best relationship, most, with,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican who backed Mr. Thune. He said Mr. Trump “wisely” stayed out of what was an “intimate decision” among senators.
Mr. Trump did talk with several senators privately about the Republican leader race. Although he never offered a preference, he did provide “candid” comments on who he thought may win, said Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri. Mr. Hawley backed Mr. Cornyn.
Mr. Thune said he and other Senate Republicans are excited to get to work in January, when they will officially take control of the majority and implement Mr. Trump’s priorities.
“We will make sure that the president and his team have the tools and support that they need to enforce border security laws and remove violent criminals who are wreaking havoc in every one of our states,” he said. “We’ll work to make America prosperous again by streamlining the bureaucratic machine and overturning costly Biden-Harris regulations. We will work to restore American energy dominance, not just our energy security, but energy dominance, which will lower costs and bolster our national security.”
Mr. Thune spoke with Mr. Trump by phone after the leadership election Wednesday afternoon. Shortly after, Mr. Trump congratulated him in a Truth Social post, saying, “He moves quickly, and will do an outstanding job.”
Before assuming the role of Republican whip, Mr. Thune worked his way up through lower-level leadership positions and served as chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
He was first elected to the House in 1996 and served three terms. He lost his first Senate race in 2002 before a historic win in 2004, when he ousted Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle.
It took two ballots to decide the Republican leadership race. Mr. Thune failed to secure a majority on the first ballot of the 53 returning and newly elected Republican senators who will serve in the majority in the next Congress. Retiring senators could not vote, but Mr. Vance was able to; he will serve as president of the Senate in his new role and can vote to break any ties on the floor.
Mr. Thune won on the second ballot with 29 votes over Mr. Cornyn, who had 24.
Mr. Scott had the most public endorsements from senators heading into the election but was the lowest vote-getter on the first ballot and dropped from contention for the second ballot.
Two of the 53 Republicans did not vote on the first ballot, in which Mr. Thune had 23 votes, Mr. Cornyn had 15 and Mr. Scott had 13.
“I may have lost the vote, but I am optimistic,” Mr. Scott said in a statement. “I ran for leader with one mission: to fundamentally change how the Senate operates and upend the status quo so we can actually start representing the voters who put us here.”
Indeed, Mr. Scott’s supporters and detractors alike said his push for an inclusive legislative process influenced the race, and all three contenders ultimately pledged to give rank-and-file members more input and opportunities to amend bills.
“It’s pretty obvious that people are repudiating McConnell’s one-man dictatorship style,” said Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.
Although he voted for Mr. Scott, Mr. Johnson said all three candidates articulated a similar vision of change. He said Mr. Thune’s leadership “will be far more open and collaborative, fewer surprises upon the conference.”
Mr. McConnell did not endorse in the race for his successor but praised the conference’s election of Mr. Thune as “a clear endorsement of a consummate leader.”
“The confidence our colleagues have placed in John’s legislative experience and political skill is well deserved,” he said in a statement. “The American people elected Republicans to restore stability and order after four years of Washington Democrats’ failure. John Thune will take the reins with a tremendous opportunity to lead this transformation, and Senate Republicans stand behind him, ready to get to work.”
Republicans elected five other senators to round out their leadership team.
Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming will replace Mr. Thune as Republican whip. He ran unopposed and moved up from the No. 3 position of Republican conference chair.
The only contested race outside of the top spot was for the open conference chair post, which Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas won over Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia ran unopposed for Ms. Ernst’s current spot as Republican Policy Committee chair. Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma ran uncontested to replace Ms. Capito as Republican Conference vice chair.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina was elected to chair the Republicans’ campaign arm, the National Republican Senatorial Committee. He will replace Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, who opted against another run for leadership.
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.
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