Ditch Mitch? Most GOP Voters Want to Replace McConnellhttps://t.co/RXPapcJz5t pic.twitter.com/UiltKuoVr4
— Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) November 23, 2022
Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky and the longest-serving GOP leader in Senate history, defeated Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican from Florida, who had mounted an improbable attempt to unseat him.
37 senators voted in favor of McConnell. In a secret ballot election, Scott received 10 votes, while one senator abstained, according to Indiana Sen. Mike Braun, one of the senators who tallied the final ballots.
McConnell remarked, adding that he is glad of his vote total, “I don’t own this position, anyone that wants to run for it can feel free to do so.” Following his victory, he told reporters in the U.S. Capitol that he had no plans to leave.
Scott, who oversaw the GOP’s 2022 Senate campaign, officially announced his run a day earlier and blamed McConnell for the Senate’s failure to acquire enough members to gain control. Since they fought over candidate selection in crucial races and party messages during the campaign season, there has been animosity between the two senators.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-North Dakota, said, “I don’t see how you switch in the leader for the chairman of [the National Republican Senatorial Committee] if you’re going to accept responsibility for election losses.” To me, that is plain elementary.
“No one in my state, not Republicans, not Independents, not Democrats, is pleased with the Washington leadership. And neither am I. Therefore, I am on their side and not these folks “added Sen. Josh Hawley, a loud McConnell detractor from Missouri.
Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, joined a group of senators who attempted—but failed—to postpone the leadership election until after the Dec. 6 run-off election for the Georgia Senate.
“The triumph for the Republicans should have been considerably greater. The Senate should have had a sizable majority, and the House should have had a huge majority. We didn’t obtain those outcomes,” Cruz said.
Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., who supported Scott, said, “I don’t think we’re getting the outcomes politically or administratively.” “We have no set agenda. Our business doesn’t have a plan. That is ineffective elsewhere.”
Braun emphasized that many GOP senators want to feel like they are contributing more to committee work and influencing legislation. “Generally speaking, change doesn’t come easily or quickly here.”
Braun gave a more optimistic picture of the negotiations after the vote.
He said, “That was the finest discussion we’ve had as a Senate group since I’ve been here. “Because it was interactive and clarified what we would stand for as a caucus, and all I can say is that (was) the finest four hours in the four years I have been here,” the speaker said.
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, a close ally of McConnell’s, claimed that the election’s “stalemate” and the fact that lawmakers are bitterly split are to blame for senators’ dissatisfaction.
It would be extremely challenging to enact laws during the next two years, he said. We must put these disagreements behind us because it is the most crucial thing we can do.
