McConnell Clone Wins Senate Majority Leader Election

Houston, we have a problem.

Senator John Thune (R-SD) has won the race to be the Senate Majority leader, beating out Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Rick Scott (R-FL) who most thought would win.

Tough Race

The three men mentioned above were an interesting mix of characters, as was proven by their endorsements heading into this election.

Scott was Trump’s guy, and he was backed by most MAGA members and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), who was also just nominated as Trump’s Secretary of State.

Cornyn won the endorsement of Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), which stunned me, as I fully expected him to get behind Scott.

Thune had the support of all the establishment senators, and there was no way I thought he could win this race, but I was dead wrong.

McConnell 2.0

Thune is a McConnell loyalist, and of all the candidates, he was the one that I was worried about the most.

When he backed Trump’s suggestion for recess appointments, I was stunned, as that is something that both parties have fought against going back to the Obama administration.

After winning the election, Thune stated, “We have a mandate from the American people. I’m excited to get to work with this team right away. … I promise to be a leader who serves the entire Republican conference.”

Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD), who had endorsed Thune, stated, “Now it’s a matter of bringing everybody back together. … We can’t afford to have hard feelings.”

It’s a New Day

So far, Thune is saying all the right things, but I am going to wait until I see action. For instance, he just penned an op-ed in Fox News, where he stated, “We have a mandate to govern. With President Trump leading the ticket, Republicans did better than in 2020 in 48 states. We improved our margins in three out of every four counties in the United States and grew support with nearly every demographic group.

“President Trump won more Hispanic support than any Republican president ever before, and younger voters who have many elections ahead in their lifetimes were crucial to victory. As my colleague Florida Sen. Marco Rubio describes it, the party is now a 'multi-ethnic, multi-racial coalition of hard-working Americans who love their country.' It’s a new day for the GOP – and that’s a very good thing.”

It sounds really good, but can we trust him not to throw a wrench into the system like McConnell did many times? What I can say, however, is that I expect Thune to stand up to some of Trump's more unexplainable nominations, such as Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) as Attorney General.

There are going to be some fireworks, and this relationship will be tested immediately, so let’s hope they can all stay on the same page and focus on what really matters so we do not get it handed to us again in 2026 and 2028.