Senate Republicans will move quickly to choose a successor to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in the fall, with a vote planned for the week after the November elections.
Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), tasked with organizing internal leadership elections as chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, told the Washington Examiner voting would occur the week of Nov. 12, when lawmakers return from a six-week break.
“We are committed to having the election. We’re going to do it in November, and we want to make sure that we have our full team ready on the ground, ready for action when we take the majority,” he said on Wednesday afternoon. “And the sooner we can get those elections behind us, the better it’s going to be to make sure we’re fully prepared on the ground.”
The time frame is roughly in line with past leadership races, but conservatives in the conference had been pushing to delay the votes.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), who leads a bloc of conservatives as chairman of the Steering Committee, used Wednesday’s conference lunch to propose that Republicans first hold a “couple” of meetings in which leadership candidates make their case and answer colleagues’ questions.
Barrasso then informed senators at the lunch that the elections will take place the week they get back.
This is not the first time leadership has resisted a delay. Lee made a similar pitch at their lunch two weeks ago, according to Axios, that McConnell dismissed.
Lee suggested the earlier meeting had convinced him there was not the “appetite” to push elections until after Thanksgiving.
“We ought to get it done before then,” he told the Washington Examiner.
But he suggested to Barrasso on Wednesday that Republicans “cram” two conference meetings into the same week as a compromise.
“I’m not as concerned about exactly how many days elapse as I am the fact that we ought to have a couple of conference meetings, a couple of conferences prior to the election, just for back and forth – candidates to make their pitch and then some Q&A,” Lee said.
Republicans who attended the lunch noted that, practically speaking, the debate is over a handful of days. Lawmakers will only be in Washington for two weeks before departing again for Thanksgiving.
“There wasn’t a lot of drama about it or anything,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO).
“If we’re talking about a week – do it the following week instead of that week – I don’t think we should sweat it,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), an adviser to McConnell.
Still, past attempts to delay the elections have divided the conference. In 2022, conservatives unsuccessfully attempted to push a vote until after a Senate runoff in Georgia.
The leadership elections, conducted via secret ballot, will take on greater importance this year after McConnell, 82, announced in February that he will step down from his post as GOP leader.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) are the front-runners in that race, while a third candidate, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), is likely to attract the support of conservatives. A favorable outcome for Republicans on Election Day may draw a dark horse candidate like Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), the head of Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, into the contest as well.
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The other contested race is for Barrasso’s job as conference chair. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), currently the policy chairwoman, and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) have both announced bids.
Barrasso is running unopposed for Thune’s role as Republican whip.
