Thune elected to succeed McConnell as Senate majority leader

Republicans have elected South Dakota Sen. John Thune as the next Senate majority leader, completing a momentous shift in their leadership that elevates a top deputy of Mitch McConnell into a key position as President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House.

Thune, 63, is in his fourth Senate term and has promised to work closely with Trump, despite differences the two have had over the years, and will be a crucial part of the incoming president’s efforts to push through his policy agenda.

Thune beat out two other competitors, Sens. John Cornyn and Rick Scott, by gaining majority support from GOP senators in a secret ballot vote in two rounds of voting. Scott was eliminated on the first round and the final vote between Thune and Cornyn was 29-24, according to several people who requested anonymity to discuss the private meeting.

Republicans are replacing McConnell, the longest serving Senate party leader, as they prepare to take majority control of the Senate with the 53 seats they won in last week’s elections.

Thune told The Associated Press over the summer that he views their potential relationship as a professional one. If they both win their elections, Thune said, “we’ve got a job to do.”

Well liked and a respected communicator, Thune has been perceived as a front-runner for much of the year. Like McConnell, he hails from the Republican Party’s more traditional wing.

He is a former chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee and has held the Republican whip position — no. 2 in party leadership — since 2019. He took over for McConnell for several weeks last year when he was on a medical leave, a move that was widely seen as an audition of sorts as speculation surrounded McConnell’s future.

Thune’s win is all the more extraordinary because of his 2004 election to the Senate – defeating then-Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle after arguing during the campaign that Daschle had lost his South Dakota roots during his years in Democratic leadership. Twenty years later, Thune will become majority leader himself.



(AP Photo Joe Maiorana)