Thune selected as Senate Majority Leader | Eastern North Carolina Now

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) has been elected Senate majority leader, setting the stage for him to replace retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has held the top Senate GOP leadership job for the past 18 years.

Thune has served as Senate Republican whip, the No. 2-ranking position in the Senate GOP leadership, since 2019, and largely managed operation of the Senate floor since McConnell suffered a concussion from a fall in 2023.

Thune beat Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) by a vote of 25 to 24, according to two sources familiar.

Thune led after the first ballot. He won 25 votes while Cornyn won 15 votes and Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) collected 13 votes. 

“I am extremely honored to have earned the support of my colleagues to lead the Senate in the 119th Congress, and I am beyond proud of the work we have done to secure our majority and the White House,” he said in a statement after the vote. “This Republican team is united behind President Trump’s agenda, and our work starts today.”

Thune is well-liked among his Senate Republican colleagues and his affable, humble approach to managing the conference has earned the trust and confidence of fellow GOP senators.

He announced his intention to run for leader shortly after McConnell said in February that he would retire from the GOP leadership at the end of this year.

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His main competition for the past eight months of the race has been Cornyn, a formidable fundraiser, who served as Senate Republican whip from 2013 to 2019.

Cornyn tried to portray himself in the race as an agent of change, promising to give rank-and-file Republicans more opportunity to debate and amendment legislation on the Senate floor.

Thune, however, had many opportunities to work with colleagues over the past six years to help them get votes on amendments and collect political chits along the way, even if some GOP senators felt frustrated from time to time when they couldn’t get a vote on a particular amendment.

Thune promised at a lengthy candidates’ forum with Cornyn and Scott, the third Republican in the leadership race, to give senators more opportunity to amend bills and to strive for more unity in the GOP conference.

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