McConnell, of Kentucky, easily fended off a challenge from Scott in the first attempt to oust him after many years as GOP leader. The vote was 37-10, the senators said, with one other senator voting absent. McConnell is poised to become the Senate’s longest-serving leader when the new Congress convenes next year. “I’m not going anywhere,” McConnell said after the nearly four-hour closed-door meeting. He said he was “quite proud” of the result but acknowledged the work ahead. “I think everyone in our conference agrees that we want to do our best.” At a luncheon of GOP senators on Tuesday, Scott and McConnell had exchanged what their colleagues said were “sincere” and “spirited” barbs. The 10 Republican senators who joined Wednesday’s rebellion against McConnell and voted for Scott included some of the most conservative figures and those aligned with former President Donald Trump. “Why do I think he won?” said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., among McConnell’s critics. “Because the conference didn’t want to change course.” The turmoil in the Senate GOP is similar to the turmoil among House Republicans in the wake of the midterm elections that split the party over Trump’s dominance of the party. House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy won the nomination from his colleagues to run for House speaker, with Republicans taking a majority in the House on Wednesday, but he faces stiff opposition from a core group of right-wing Republicans unconvinced about the his leadership. Scott said in a statement that while “the results of today’s election were not what we had hoped for, this is far from the end of our fight to make Washington work.” Retreating to the Capitol’s Old Senate Chamber for the private vote, senators first considered and then rejected a proposal by a Scott ally, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, to delay leadership votes until after her runoff election. December 6 in Georgia. between Republican Herschel Walker and current Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock who will determine the final composition of the Senate. Cruz said it was a “cordial conversation, but a serious conversation” about how Republicans in the minority can function effectively. In all, 48 new and returning GOP senators voted. Retiring Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska missed a vote to return home after his office said his wife was recovering from a non-threatening seizure. Senators also elected the other GOP leadership positions. McConnell’s top positions remained steady, with Sen. John Thune, RS.D., as GOP whip, and Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., in the No. 3 seat as GOP conference chairman. Montana Republican Senator Steve Daines was tapped to take over Scott’s campaign. The challenge by Scott, who Trump urged to take on McConnell, escalated a long-running feud between Scott, who led the Senate Republican campaign arm this year, and McConnell over the party’s approach to trying to regain the majority of the Senate. Concerned conservatives in the chamber have criticized McConnell’s handling of the election, as well as his iron grip on the Senate Republican caucus. Trump had been pushing the party to dump McConnell since the Senate leader gave a scathing speech blaming then-President Trump for the January 6 riot at the US Capitol. McConnell pushed back hard, blaming Republican problems on what he called “candidate quality” after many of his preferred candidates were replaced by Trump-backed Republicans on the ballot. McConnell said Republicans fielded the kinds of candidates that “scared” independent and moderate voters. Those voters felt that “We weren’t dealing with the issues in a responsible way and were spending too much time on negativity, attacks and chaos,” McConnell said earlier this week. “They were afraid.” Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who has led efforts with Cruz to delay the election, spoke at some point Wednesday as did ally Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, according to people familiar with the private meeting. The question I put to both leadership candidates is, “What issues are we willing to fight for,” Cruz said. Among the many reasons Scott lists for the challenge is that Republicans compromised too much with Democrats in the last Congress — creating bills that President Joe Biden has counted as successes and that Democrats have fielded in the 2022 election. The feud between Scott and McConnell had been simmering for months and came to a boil as election results showed there would not be a Republican Senate surge as Scott predicted, according to senior Republican strategists who were not authorized to discuss internal matters by name and insisted on anonymity. The controversy began shortly after Scott took over the party’s caucus after the 2020 election. Many in the party saw his ascension as an attempt to build his national political profile and donor network ahead of a possible presidential bid in 2024. Some were outraged. from the committee’s promotional materials that were heavy on Scott’s own biography, while focusing less on the candidates in the running. Scott then released an 11-point plan earlier this year that called for a modest tax increase on many of the lowest-paid Americans while opening the door to cuts to Social Security and Medicare, which McConnell quickly rejected , although he declined to offer an agenda of his own. The backlash stemmed in part from declining confidence in Scott’s leadership, as well as the committee’s poor finances, which were $20 million in debt, according to a senior Republican adviser. Democrats have postponed their midterm elections until after Thanksgiving.
Follow AP’s coverage of the 2022 midterm elections at And check out to learn more about the issues and factors at play in the midterm elections.
