Christian Smith
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) announced Wednesday that he will join the race to replace retiring Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), throwing a wildcard into the race to lead a potential new Republican majority in the Senate in 2025.
Scott’s decision to enter the race gives his Senate Republican colleagues a more conservative alternative to Sens. John Thune (RS.D.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), who announced their ambitions to succeed McConnell earlier this year.
While Thune and Cornyn are highly respected conservative senators, they have not been as willing to challenge McConnell’s leadership as Scott, who has urged Senate Republicans to develop a bold governing agenda and work much more closely with conservative House Republicans. .
“This is not the time to make small adjustments, I believe we need dramatic change to save our country and that is why I am running to be Republican leader,” Scott announced in a “Dear Colleague” letter distributed Wednesday afternoon. fair.
Scott included a list of eight promises he will make to his colleagues if elected leader of the Republican Party.
He promised to never surprise them with legislation or ask them to vote on something they hadn’t had the opportunity to fully review.
He promised to lead the Republican conference in developing “a positive, aspirational agenda that outlines our legislative goals and what Senate Republicans stand for.”
And he promised to never pressure colleagues to vote against what they defend or against what is not in the interests of their voters.
Scott said he thinks the GOP leader should be limited to a six-year term and that the appropriations process should follow a “realistic timeline” to prevent Congress from relying on continuing resolutions and sweeping packages to fund the government.
Scott enters the race as an outsider compared to Thune and Cornyn, who have been vying for the leadership role for years.
Thune is the current Senate Republican leader, and Cornyn served in that role for six years before resigning due to term limits.
Both are close allies of McConnell, who will step down as Republican Party leader at the end of the year but plans to serve out the remainder of his Senate term, which runs through 2026.
Scott, who visited Manhattan last week to show his support for former President Trump during his secret trial, has a better relationship with Trump than Thune or Cornyn.
That could be a big boon for Scott if Trump defeats President Biden in November and throws his political weight behind the Florida senator.
Trump urged Scott to challenge McConnell for leader two years ago.
He praised Scott at the time as “highly underrated.”
Scott hastily announced that he would challenge McConnell after the 2022 elections. The short campaign to be elected leader of the 118th Congress turned acrimonious as McConnell and Scott and their allies traded blame for the disappointing results of the 2022 midterm elections, in which the Senate Republicans suffered a net loss of one seat.
McConnell defeated Scott 36-10.
Scott, who is running for reelection to a second term, previously said he was “seriously considering” another run to become leader of the Republican Party.
Updated at 6:11 p.m.
