Posted on 11/16/22
| News Source: The Hill
Senate Republicans voted Wednesday to elect Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) as their leader over National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who announced his desire to replace McConnell at an acrimonious conference meeting Tuesday.
A large majority of GOP senators voted to elect McConnell leader after a motion backed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and other conservatives to delay the leadership election until after the Dec. 6 Georgia Senate runoff failed.
McConnell received 37 votes while Scott received 10 votes. One senator voted present.
“We collectively, I think, had a good discussion about what happened in the election and what happens in the next election,” McConnell said after a more than three-hour meeting of the Senate Republican Conference in the Old Senate Chamber. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue to serve.”
Scott’s last-minute challenge to McConnell represented the toughest competition the senior Republican senator has faced for the top leadership job since he became Senate minority leader in 2007.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) nominated McConnell to serve another two years as GOP leader.