Republicans have elected South Dakota Sen. John Thune as the next Senate majority leader, completing a major shift in their leadership that elevates a top Mitch McConnell deputy to a key position as President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House.
Thune, 63, is in his fourth term in the Senate, and has promised to work closely with Trump, despite their differences over the years, and will be a crucial part of the next president’s efforts to advance his policy agenda.
“I am extremely honored to have the support of my colleagues,” Thune said in a statement.
He added: “This Republican team is united behind President Trump’s agenda, and our work begins today.”
Thune beat out two other challengers, Senators John Cornyn and Rick Scott, by receiving the support of a majority of GOP senators in a secret vote in two rounds of voting. Scott was eliminated in the first round and the final vote between Thune and Cornyn was 29-24, according to several people who requested anonymity to discuss the private meeting.
Republicans replace McConnell, the party’s longest-serving leader in the Senate, as they prepare to control the majority in the Senate with the 53 seats they won in last week’s elections.
Much of the campaign revolved around the candidates’ relationship with Trump. Thune has been working to calm things down after his public disagreement with Trump over efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which he called “inexcusable.”
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In recent months, Thune has re-aligned with Trump, visiting him at his home in Florida, and the two have been consulting on how to implement the next president’s agenda. Thune told The Associated Press over the summer that he viewed their potential relationship as a professional one. If both win the election, “we have work to do,” Thune said.
While making his case, Thune also made it clear that he would listen to Trump’s demands. When Trump posted on And that “all options are on the table to achieve this, including vacation dates.”
A likable and respected debater, Thune was viewed as the front-runner for much of the year. Like McConnell, he comes from the more traditional wing of the Republican Party.
He is a former Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee and served as Republican Whip – No. He holds the party’s second-in-command leadership — since 2019. He took over for McConnell for several weeks last year while he was on medical leave, a move that was widely seen as a test of sorts as speculation surrounded McConnell’s future.
Thune’s win was all the more extraordinary because of his election to the Senate in 2004 – where he defeated then-Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle after claiming on the campaign trail that Daschle had lost his South Dakota roots during his years in Democratic leadership. Twenty years later, Thune would become Majority Leader himself.
As he prepared to run for leader, Thune spent much of the year campaigning for his colleagues. According to his aides, he has raised more than $31 million to elect Republicans to the Senate this cycle, including transferring $4 million from his own campaign accounts to the Senate’s main campaign arm.
The election was difficult for many at the convention who saw Thune and Cornyn as similar choices. They are similar on policy, generally voting in line with the conference but occasionally working with Democrats. Cornyn is a longtime member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and took a leadership role on bipartisan gun legislation two years ago.
But the two disagreed over whether the leader should be term-limited, a key demand from some in the conservative wing. Cornyn pushed to the limits, while Thawne did not.
Scott, the former governor of Florida, was elected to the Senate in 2018 and quickly positioned himself as an opponent to McConnell, running against him for leader in 2022 and siding with Utah Sen. Mike Lee and others who have been harshly critical of the movement. command.
While Thune and Cornyn courted their colleagues one by one throughout the year, Scott spent most of the year tied up in his re-election race. He easily defeated Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell by more than 10 points.
Following his re-election last week, Scott aggressively ramped up his campaign for GOP leadership, campaigning publicly as the candidate closest to Trump and drawing the endorsement of people close to the former and future president, such as billionaire Elon Musk. But some wondered whether this strategy might backfire.
Rounds said he preferred the way Thune and Cornyn dealt with everyone individually, but he talked to Scott as well. “We have three qualified individuals,” he said before the race.
& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press
