Rick Scott says he’ll make another run for Senate GOP leader after loss to McConnell

Florida U.S. Sen. Rick Scott is running to succeed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as the chamber’s Republican leader, making a second go at a job he sought unsuccessfully – and to the frustration of many of his peers – nearly two years ago.

In a letter to his Republican colleagues, Scott said that he wants to make “dramatic change” in the Senate GOP Conference. He predicted that former President Donald Trump will win the November presidential race “with a mandate” to govern, and cast himself as a conduit between Trump and the Senate that could help the former president fulfill his agenda.

“We will have a historic opportunity to solve our country’s problems,” Scott wrote. “Over the years, the Senate has become the place where change oriented conservative policies come to die, and I believe now is the time to change that.”

Scott, a first-term senator who’s up for reelection this year, is likely to face an uphill battle for the leadership job. Two Senate Republican heavyweights, Minority Whip John Thune and former Minority Whip John Cornyn, are already running to succeed McConnell, who’s expected to step down from his post this year.

Scott has also challenged McConnell before, and lost. He sought to unseat the longtime Republican leader in 2022, but won just 10 votes. Many Republican senators expressed frustration with Scott, who, at the time, served as the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee. Despite predictions that the GOP would win control of the Senate that year, Democrats ultimately eked out a narrow majority.

This time around, Scott is casting his leadership run as a chance to unite Republicans. In his letter to colleagues, he claimed that the Senate GOP has been far too willing to compromise with Democrats, and vowed to put Republicans first, if elected leader in November.

“We too often take votes that divide us and unite Democrats,” Scott wrote. “Republicans all across America want the Republicans they elected to the U.S. Senate to stop caving in to Democrat demands. This is not an unreasonable request or expectation.”

Scott still has to get through his reelection bid. Several Democrats, including former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, are running for the nomination to take him on in November, though early polls show Scott with a competitive edge.

In a statement, Mucarsel-Powell said that Scott’s announcement dramatically raised the stakes of the November election, calling the prospect of him leading the Senate Republican Conference “a disaster for Americans.”

“There’s no line Rick Scott won’t cross to further his own extreme agenda,” she said. “The stakes of this race just got so much higher, but voters are fired up and ready to retire Rick Scott – for working Floridians and for Americans across the country.”