Senate conservatives delay GOP leader race despite Rick Scott’s impact

Senate conservatives are holding off on endorsing Sen. Rick Scott’s (R-FL) run for GOP leader, keeping the race to succeed Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) effectively frozen six months out from the secret ballot.

Talk of the leader contest has receded into the background since McConnell announced his retirement from leadership in February. Two contenders viewed as McConnell’s natural successors — Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), a former whip — stepped forward in the days that followed, but the long lead time until votes are cast, likely in November, has turned one of the most consequential decisions for the conference in decades into a sleepy affair.

Almost no Senate Republicans have announced their support for any of McConnell’s possible successors.

Scott’s entry into the race on Wednesday added a jolt of interest. He’s made support for former President Donald Trump a bigger litmus test and put forward a platform that will pressure his rivals to make concessions to the right.

Yet his closest allies have not rushed to endorse him, even as they praise the conservative vision he’s laid out.

“I’m gonna listen to all the candidates. I’m not committing to anyone,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who voted for Scott when he unsuccessfully challenged McConnell for the top leadership post in 2022.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), who gave Scott’s nominating speech in that leadership race, took the same view in a statement. He called Scott a “dear friend and a true conservative” and welcomed his decision to lay out a concrete vision for how he would run the conference, including transparency and an open amendment process.

But he, like other conservatives, has decided to withhold his support until he’s had a chance to press Cornyn and Thune, regarded as the front-runners in the race, on how they might govern.

“I’m not committing to anybody right now,” Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO), elected to the Senate in 2022, said. “I’m gonna talk to everybody that’s running and have some real conversations about the direction of our conference.”

It would be a shock to see Scott’s allies, especially those who supported him in 2022, vote for a more establishment candidate this time around, at least in the first round of voting.

Scott, who failed to unseat McConnell last time in a 37-10 vote, represents conservative dissatisfaction with the “status quo,” while Cornyn and Thune are among McConnell’s closest advisers.

Scott will have trouble attracting some of the more centrist Republicans, a fact he alluded to in a “Dear Colleague” letter announcing his run, but his bid could serve to give conservatives leverage. Scott will fracture an already divided race further, offering his allies a chance to demand rules changes.

Cornyn, in particular, has made a play for conservative votes, though he will be dogged by certain bipartisan bills he supported in previous Congresses. He has embraced term limits for the leader post and offered a more candid critique of Senate leadership than Thune in announcing his run.

Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN), a member of the conservative Breakfast Club, expects most of Scott’s 2022 backers will carry over this year. “And I think he’ll add some,” he said, ascribing the lack of endorsements to the time Republicans still have to make up their mind.

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“I think since it’s far enough down the road, that doesn’t surprise me much,” Braun said. “I think that when it comes down to it, since you’ve got now three options, it would be natural to say you’re gonna kick the tires and make your decision along the way.”

Braun, for his part, is endorsing Scott’s run, but he will not get a vote in the leadership election due to his retirement from Congress as he vies to become Indiana’s next governor.