Nov. 13 (UPI) — Senate Republicans on Wednesday elected Sen. John Thune to succeed Sen. Mitch McConnell as leader of the Senate’s GOP and its likely new majority.
Thune won a 29-24 vote in a second round of voting against Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, in a closed door meeting in a secret ballot vote.
Thune. R-S.D., said he is “extremely honored” to have gotten the support “to lead the Senate in the 119th Congress,” in a statement.
A candidate needed 27 votes from colleagues in order to gain the job. Meanwhile, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., got the least number of votes at 13 then eliminated as a candidate after a first round of voting.
McConnell, R-Ky., is stepping-down at the age of 82 after a record 18 years in the role after initially getting elected to the Senate in 1984. Thune, 63, was first elected to the Senate in 2004. He became whip in 2019.
Thune’s selection arrived within hours of Trump’s visit to Capitol Hill and his White House meeting with President Joe Biden. Vice President-elect J.D. Vance was also meeting with lawmakers. The outgoing Democratic president, meanwhile, had pledged a smooth transition in a reignited traditional meeting between the incoming and outgoing commander-in-chief that Trump balked at in 2020.
On Wednesday, Thune wrote in a statement he was “beyond proud of the work we have done to secure our majority and the White House.”
Thune was a contender for the Republican leadership role along with Cornyn and Scott. But Trump opted to not endorse a candidate in the race. Many in Trump’s base were pushing for Scott, a former Florida governor who was a medical company executive prior to entering politics.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-S.D., said Wednesday prior to the vote that he supported his home state colleague but said “very little” different existed between Thune and Cornyn.
“Although Cornyn told me yesterday,” said Cramer, that “people are saying they’re a mirror image of each other. To which I say, I think John Thune would take offense to that,” he added.
His election as Senate GOP leader will likely see Thune transition into the job as the Senate’s majority leader come January in what’s been anticipated to be a Republican hold in both the Senate and House chambers.
And according to Thune, his Senate Republicans colleagues are “united” behind Trump’s agenda, adding “and our work starts today.”