Senate GOP Marathon to Replace Mitch McConnell Begins

“Joe Biden and Ruben Gallego have destroyed our economy, made our streets less safe, and failed to secure the border. Kari Lake will get our economy back on track and finish the border wall. I am proud to endorse her for Senate in Arizona,” Cornyn stated.

Also on Friday, Scott revealed that he is weighing a bid for the position after challenging McConnell for it at the beginning of the 118th Congress.

“This is a big opportunity,” Scott told Charlie Kirk Friday on his eponymously-named show, the Charlie Kirk Show. “We could actually have somebody that believes in this country and believes in solving the problems of this country, running the Republican Party in the Senate.”

“I’m seriously considering it,” Scott said of a run, emphasizing the opportunity for “big change” if Republicans take a majority – as they are in a solid position to do – in November.

Scott also laid out the purpose of the conference meeting requested of Barrasso, as he signed onto the letter, emphasizing it is to decide “what are we going to stand for.”

“So that’s step one, and then it gets pretty easy. If that’s what we are going to stand for, who are we going to elect to do it… Do we want to secure the border, do want to balance the budget, do we want to make sure we’re not in forever wars?” he said.

Scott went on to declare he is not the man for the job if we Republicans want to keep the “Mitch McConnell plan” going forward.

Exclusive – Donald Trump: Mitch McConnell Health Problems ‘Sad,’ He Should Step Down pic.twitter.com/Ibw1JZuPJd

— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) July 30, 2023

“If we want to go down the same path we’ve been goin’ down, you shouldn’t elect me. I’m not going to do that,” he said.

Thune, McConnell’s current number two, notified reporters on Thursday that he is talking to senators about running for the spot.

“I’m having lots of conversations with our colleagues, and so getting inside input from them about where they see the future headed and what they want out of the next Senate Republican leader. They’re great conversations,” Thune said, according to the Hill.

Thune, like Cornyn, was also late to the game in endorsing Trump, only giving him his vote of support last week. Making the timing even more interesting was that it came days before McConnell announced his forthcoming retirement.

Breitbart News Policy Reporter Sean Moran laid out the “rocky history” Thune has with the former president in an article on Tuesday, in which he underscores his frequent past criticisms of Trump’s “policies, his tactics, and… ability to win a general election.”

When asked about Cornyn’s entrance into the race, Thune quipped, “ I think these are the worst-kept secrets in Washington right now.”

Now, for the final of the “three Johns,” Barrasso. Barrasso is in a unique position compared to Thune and Cornyn, both of whom are term-limited out of being GOP Whip, the second-ranking job. Barrasso, however, is eligible for the job, as Politico’s Burgess Everett pointed out, posing a potential crossroads for Barrasso:

Barrasso has not made a public decision on his plans and seems truly undecided, according to people familiar with party dynamics. In contrast to Cornyn and Thune’s launches this week, Barrasso will decide on his own timeline, according to a person familiar with his thinking.

In doing so, he effectively freezes the field for the rest of the down-ballot races. Under party rules, each senator can pursue only one job in the leadership contests set to take place after the general election.

The report that Barrasso, who endorsed Trump in January before the Iowa Caucuses, “will decide on his own timeline” further indicates the makings of a long-term resolution to picking McConnell’s successor rather than an immediate one.

Finally, there is Daines, who is currently leading a national undertaking for Republicans to win back the majority and has stacked his roster of endorsed candidates with America First fighters.

Politico reported on Thursday that Daines is receiving encouragement to run for the position from the 45th president. Daines said he was thankful to the president and that he told Trump, “the most important thing I can do this moment is to make sure we have a Senate majority in November.”

And that undertaking will be coming to a close just as McConnell steps down from leadership and some of Daines’s hand-picked reinforcements are potentially on the way in January.