Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will vacate his seat in January 2027 after nearly four decades, but it is his vacated role as the Republican Senate leader in November that has a handful of senators jockeying to be the hand at the reins.
The front-runners for the race are Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and John Thune of South Dakota.
“Senate Republicans are blessed with a deep and talented bench, but Sen. Thune sticks out as someone with the policy and political chops and widespread support inside the conference to get the job,” an anonymous former Senate GOP aide told Newsweek. “Few will ever match Mitch McConnell on floor strategy and tactics, but Thune has had years to learn from the master.”
A potential third option is Sen. Rick Scott of Florida. However, most political analysts who spoke to Newsweek “did not focus on him as a serious contender.”
Speculating on a Trump election win in November, Gregory Koger, a political scientist and professor of political science at the University of Miami, told Newsweek that he could see former President Donald Trump endorsing an unnamed option.
“Both representatives are fairly conventional conservative options,” Koger said. “If Donald Trump wins the presidential election, I would not be surprised to see him try to support a third candidate, or to extract a public pledge of personal loyalty from Cornyn and Thune.”
Regarding Thune and Cornyn, Jason Cabel Roe, a political and communications strategist, attributed the outcome in the Senate Republican leadership to the outcome of the presidential election.
“I don’t see one being particularly better prepared than the other and I think it will come down to who the caucus thinks can effectively coexist with a President Trump, if he wins, or who will be better prepared to stop a [Kamala] Harris agenda, if she wins,” Roe said.
