Senate Republicans reelect Mitch McConnell amid hangover of midterm losses and divisive Trump run

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) won reelection on Wednesday as Senate Republican leader, squashing a challenge from Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, fueled by the party’s flop in the midterms and his bitter feud with former President Donald Trump.

The senators first considered a motion by a Scott ally, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, to delay the leadership votes until after the Dec. 6 runoff election in Georgia between Republican Herschel Walker and incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock that will determine the final makeup of the Senate. Walker was eligible to vote in the leadership election but wasn’t expected to be present.

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“If you simply want to stick with the status quo, don’t vote for me,” Scott said in a letter to Senate Republicans, offering himself as a protest vote against McConnell.

Cruz said it was a “cordial discussion, but a serious discussion” about how Republicans in the minority can work effectively.

In all, 48 GOP senators voted. Retiring Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska missed the vote to be home after his office said his wife was recovering from a non-threatening seizure.

The veteran GOP leader beat Scott in a lopsided 37-10 vote after an unusually frank and nasty closed-door debate within the usually courtly club of senators. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said they were among the 10 who voted against the current leader.

“I’m not going anywhere,” McConnell said after the vote that leaves him poised to become the Senate’s longest-serving leader when the new Congress convenes next year.

McConnell said he was “pretty proud” of the outcome as he acknowledged the work ahead.

“I think everybody in our conference agrees we want to give it our best shot,” McConnell said.

Trump has been pushing for the party to dump McConnell ever since the Senate leader gave a scathing speech blaming then-President Trump for the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The twice-impeached president has repeatedly attacked the Senate Minority Leader and even used racist insults about his Asian-American wife, former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.