Senators John Thune, John Cornyn, and Scott, the three majority-leader candidates, participated in the event put together by Utah Senator Mike Lee.
Washington, D.C. — Republican senators vying for Mitch McConnell’s spot at the top of the party held a candidate forum Tuesday night to make their case for becoming the next majority leader, a conversation that netted Senator Rick Scott two more endorsements shortly afterward.
Republican senators John Thune (S.D.), John Cornyn (Texas), and Scott (Fla.), the three leadership candidates, participated in the roughly two-hour-long forum put together by Utah Senator Mike Lee, a leading proponent of reforming Senate procedure to give the party’s right flank greater levels of input.
In the middle of the discussion, Lee shared an update on X praising the productivity of the conversation, which wasn’t open to the press. After the forum concluded, Lee announced on X that he would be endorsing Scott and went into detail as to why.
“While I personally like all three leadership candidates and consider them friends—and while each offers a unique set of skills, experience, and plans that could prove useful to the Senate and the American people—Rick Scott stands out as the most aggressively reform-minded candidate,” Lee said.
He believes Scott is the leadership candidate most committed to reforming how the Senate passes spending bills, opening up the amendment process, and enacting President-elect Donald Trump’s legislative agenda.
Lee largely said the same to reporters afterward, and he declined to say whom he would endorse if Scott loses the first round of voting. The vote is expected to take place Wednesday morning, and plenty of Republicans have not made public endorsements.
Senator Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.) also endorsed Scott after speaking with him and listening to the other two candidates at the forum.
“After these conversations and hearing from all the candidates tonight, I will be supporting Rick Scott for Majority Leader, who is committed to passing President Trump’s agenda,” Blackburn said.
Senator Ron Johnson (Wis.), another Scott supporter, told reporters that the conversation will strengthen the GOP conference no matter who wins the battle to replace outgoing leader McConnell (Ky.), the longest-serving party leader in Senate history. McConnell wasn’t at the forum, choosing to attend an American Enterprise Institute dinner instead.
“Regardless of the outcome, I think just that meeting alone is going to forge a better leader,” Johnson said.
“We covered so many subjects with such substance, and you get a sense of where the consensus is,” Johnson added.
Scott has support from several prominent conservative activists and influencers such as billionaire Trump confidante Elon Musk, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, and Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk. Seven senators have now endorsed Scott, including Trump’s reported secretary of state pick Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Rand Paul (Ky.), a frequent critic of GOP leadership.
A social-media push for Scott could be backfiring, though, as Senate offices face an onslaught of online pressure and phone calls, leading some senators to resent the pressure, according to Axios.
Trump has not weighed in on the race, but he has publicly called for GOP senators to agree to recess appointments to get the ball rolling as quickly as possible. All three GOP majority leader candidates quickly backed Trump’s plan, a reflection of the president-elect’s political strength after a dominant electoral victory last week.
Other attendees echoed Johnson’s sentiment and expressed optimism about the substance of the conversation.
“There’s times when I thought why the heck would I want to change my life and come to Washington, D.C,” Ohio GOP senator-elect Bernie Moreno told reporters inside the Capitol.
“But the conversation we had in that room today really gave me hope for this country and the Senate moving forward,” Moreno added, without going into specifics about the issues discussed.
Personal relationships will likely play an important role in the process, given the similarities between candidates, especially Thune and Cornyn, as NR’s Audrey Fahlberg reported. Thune, the Senate Republican whip, has received endorsements from both North Dakota GOP senators, John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer, and his South Dakota GOP colleague Senator Mike Rounds.
“It’s hard for me to sit and enumerate a bunch of differences,” Hoeven told reporters, while noting his longtime relationship with Thune. “All three are good candidates, and I think our whole conference feels that way,” he added.
Thune also has support from Senator Markwayne Mullin (Okla.) and reportedly the private backing of Senator Steve Daines (Mont.), who oversaw the GOP’s successful effort to flip the chamber this election cycle as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
In a “dear colleague” letter Tuesday afternoon, Cornyn backed an open amendment process and emphasized his understanding that pushing through Trump’s judicial and cabinet nominees will be at the top of the priorities list.
Cornyn also described how he plans to further incorporate members into the legislative process and said he will seek a budget resolution by early next year to ensure that Republicans will be able to extend Trump’s tax cuts.
So far, Senator Josh Hawley (Mo.) is the only one to publicly endorse Cornyn. His Texas GOP colleague Ted Cruz has not made an endorsement yet.