Florida Sen. Rick Scott challenges Mitch McConnell for Senate GOP leader

Washington — Florida Sen. Rick Scott is challenging Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for the role of Senate Republican leader, he announced Monday, bringing a simmering feud between the two spilling out into the open as the GOP charts a path forward after a disappointing showing in the midterm elections.

Scott, the current chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), detailed the rationale for his bid for GOP leader in a letter to colleagues, writing that believes a change in the leadership ranks is needed.

"We must start saying what we are for, not just what we are against. I do not believe we can simply continue to say the Democrats are radical, which they are. Republican voters expect and deserve to know our plan to promote and advance conservative values," Scott wrote. "We need to listen to their calls for action and start governing in Washington like we campaign back at home. There is a Republican Party that is alive and well in communities across America. It is time there is one in Washington, D.C., too."

Speaking after an hours-long closed-door meeting of GOP senators at the Capitol on Tuesday, McConnell brushed aside Scott's challenge, saying he is confident he has sufficient support to retain his post.

"I think the outcome is pretty clear. I want to repeat again. I have the votes. I will be elected. The only issue is whether we do it sooner or later," the Kentucky Republican said, referring to efforts by some to delay the leadership elections currently scheduled for Wednesday. The weaker-than-expected performance by Republicans in the midterm elections, as well as the Georgia Senate runoff on Dec. 6, has led some GOP senators to advocate pushing the vote back.

The Florida senator's attempt to unseat McConnell comes after he oversaw an election cycle as chair of the NRSC in which Republicans failed to reclaim Senate control from Democrats. With Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto's projected win over GOP challenger Adam Laxalt in Nevada, Democrats secured the 50 seats they needed to maintain their hold of the Senate. Democrats now have an opportunity to pick up one seat with Georgia's Senate race between incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock and GOP nominee Herschel Walker heading to a runoff election next month.

McConnell and Scott clashed for months over the party's strategy heading into the midterm elections. The GOP leader previously criticized a policy proposal put forward by Scott regarding Social Security and Medicare that became the subject of dozens of Democratic attack ads targeting Republican candidates.

Emerging from the GOP lunch on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas told reporters that he intends to present a motion to delay the leadership elections until after the Georgia runoff when senators meet Wednesday morning. 

"I believe the full conference should participate in the discussion," he said. "I also believe the reason we should delay the vote is to have a robust discussion within our conference about what leadership entails."

Republican Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana appeared to be supportive of Scott's vision for the GOP, saying he is "in favor of having a clear plan for the party that all of us are engaged in equally as a senator."

"I think so far Rick Scott has articulated that, and there's now at least going to be a choice," Braun added.

Other senators within the Senate Republican conference said they believe the election should still be held on Wednesday. "I think that we should have the vote this week," Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said Tuesday morning, before the Republicans' lunch. "We know the likely outcome. In fact, I could probably guarantee with certainty the outcome, so there's no rational basis for delaying it."

Asked if Scott would have a chance against McConnell, Tillis replied, "Not at all. Not at all."

McConnell has served as the Republican leader in the Senate since 2006, and has largely been effective in uniting GOP members in the upper chamber. In 2016, McConnell was instrumental in holding open the Supreme Court seat left vacant following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

McConnell's decision not to hold a confirmation hearing for then-President Barack Obama's nominee, Merrick Garland, paved the way for former President Donald Trump to appoint Justice Neil Gorsuch to the high court. McConnell has also received credit for his work in the confirmations of Trump's other two Supreme Court nominees, Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, which solidified the high court's 6-3 conservative majority.

But Trump himself has recently soured on McConnell, who criticized the former president for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump claimed on his social media platform Truth Social that the disappointing election result for Republicans was McConnell's fault, writing he "blew the Midterms" and "everyone despises him."