Washington, D.C. — Senate Republicans elected John Thune of South Dakota to serve as their next majority leader in the second round of private voting Wednesday, rejecting the social-media fueled populist push for Senator Rick Scott (R., Fla.) to succeed Mitch McConnell, the longest serving party leader in Senate history.
Republican Senators held a closed-door, private vote Wednesday to choose between Thune, Senator John Cornyn (R., Texas) and Scott the day after the three candidates made their respective pitches at a forum put together by Senator Mike Lee (R., Utah).
Thune was the favorite to win a fight that came down to personal relationships as much or more than ideological positioning, as NR reported last week. He defeated Cornyn 29 to 24 in the second round of voting following Scott’s elimination in the first round. Scott had 13 votes in the first ballot, trailing Cornyn’s 15 and Thune’s 23.
“I am extremely honored to have earned the support of my colleagues to lead the Senate in the 119th Congress,” Thune said in a statement. “I am beyond proud of the work we have done to secure our majority and the White House. This Republican team is united behind President Trump’s agenda, and our work starts today.”
Scott’s loss follows an intense social-media pressure campaign from conservative activists and influencers. President-elect Donald Trump stayed neutral in the race, although he made support for recess appointments a litmus test for the leadership candidates. All three of the candidates quickly got behind Trump’s push for recess appointments, despite the constitutionally dubious nature of Trump’s attempts to minimize the Senate’s traditional confirmation role.
Lee publicly endorsed Scott Tuesday night and pushed for reforms to open up the amendment process and change how spending bills are passed in order to give the hard-right faction of the party more influence over legislation.
Scott had public support from several Senators including Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), although it is unclear how they voted in private. Thune’s Republican allies included Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin and Montana Senator Steve Daines, who delivered Republicans the Senate majority this cycle as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
“We’ve had an unusual development here right at the end that I’ve never seen in a leadership race before, which is outside groups trying to influence what we do internally,” McConnell said last night at an American Enterprise Institute dinner. McConnell attended the dinner instead of the candidate forum and did not say Wednesday morning who he would vote for.
Many Republican Senators declined to comment publicly on their preferred candidate. Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) was the only one to publicly back Cornyn.