Republicans elected Sen. John Thune of South Dakota to be the Senate majority leader and the majority leader of the upper chamber in the new Congress on Wednesday.
Thune defeated Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Sen. Rick Scott of Florida to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell as the GOP caucus leader. Thune will succeed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell who is the longest-serving party leader in Senate history, in January.
Fox News reported that no candidate reached a majority during the first secret ballot in the old Senate chamber. Sen. Rick Scott, who received the least amount of votes among the three, was eliminated from the race before a second secret ballot was held to elect the winner from Thune and Cornyn. Thune received 29 votes while Cornyn got 24, Fox News quoted Thune’s office as saying.
Rick Scott vs John Cornyn v John Thune secret ballot: What happened?
Republicans are replacing Kentucky's McConnell, the longest-serving Senate party leader, as they prepare to take majority control with the 53 seats they won in last week's elections.
At times, Thune has countered Trump's wishes for Congress, and he broke publicly with Trump over the effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Who is John Thune?
63-year-old Thune is in his fourth Senate term and is known for having differences with President-elect Donald Trump over the years. But in recent months, Thune realigned with Trump, US media said. Thune will now be a crucial part of the incoming president's efforts to push through his policy agenda.
Thune had defeated then-Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle in 2004 after arguing during the campaign that Daschle had lost his South Dakota roots during his years in Democratic leadership. Loved and respected as a skilled communicator, Thune has been perceived as a front-runner for much of the year. He is currently the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, and took over for McConnell for a few weeks last year when he was on a medical leave. He is also a former chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.
As he geared up to run for leader, Thune spent much of the year campaigning for his colleagues. According to his aides, he raised more than USD 31 million to elect Senate Republicans this cycle, including a USD 4 million transfer from his own campaign accounts to the Senate's main campaign arm.
One potential liability for Thune has been his previously rocky relationship with Trump. Thune was highly critical of the then-president as he tried to overturn his election defeat in 2020 and after the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by Trump's supporters. Thune said then that Trump's efforts to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power were “inexcusable.” This year, though, Thune and Trump have talked frequently on the phone and Thune visited the then-GOP candidate at his home in Florida. Thune told The Associated Press over the summer that he views their potential relationship as a professional one. If they both win their elections, Thune said, “we've got a job to do.”