After failing to unseat McConnell as Senate Majority Leader in 2022, Florida's youngest senator is throwing his hat into the ring once again
Former governor of Florida and first-term Sen. Rick Scott announced Wednesday that he is gunning to replace Mitch McConnell as Senate Republican leader after trying and failing to do so after the 2022 midterm elections.
“I believe our voters want us to use this leadership election to make a choice to overturn the status quo in Washington,” Scott wrote in a letter to his Republican colleagues. Wall Street Journal mentionted. “If you believe this to be true and want a leader committed to this principle, I would be honored to have the opportunity to earn your support.”
Scott is the third Republican senator to express interest in the position since McConnell announced he would step down in February, following Senate Minority Sen. John Thune (R-D.) and former Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) .
Scott had previously tried to oust McConnell as Senate majority leader in 2022 after Republicans performed worse than expected in the midterm elections. After Scott was unable to secure enough votes, McConnell responded by removing him from the Senate Commerce Committee, much to Scott's surprise.
“I opposed him because I think we should have ideas, fight for ideas,” Scott told CNN at the time.
Scott will also need to win re-election before he can be considered for the Senate leadership. His potential Democratic opponent, former Rep. Debbie Mukarsel-Powell of Miami, said Scott is “self-serving” to seek the Senate Republican leadership and “would be a disaster for the American people.”
“We all know that if Rick Scott is elected to the Senate leadership, he will not hesitate to push his toxic and unknown agenda into the sunset of Social Security and Medicare,” he said in a statement responding to the news of his candidacy.
The leadership of the Senate is usually voted on by the membership after the general election by secret ballot. With many candidates seeking leadership roles this year, there could be multiple rounds of voting before someone wins a clear majority. If a majority is not achieved, the candidate with the fewest votes drops out and the ballots are redrawn, per GOP precedent.
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