South Dakota Sen. John Thune, Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Florida Sen. Rick Scott have been scrambling to win the most votes in the secret ballot election, promising a new direction in the Senate even as they furiously compete for Trump's favor. It will be the first test of Trump’s relationship with Congress after he won the election decisively and claimed a mandate for his agenda.
It’s uncertain who will win.
Thune and Cornyn have campaigned mostly within the Senate, working senators individually and privately and raising millions of dollars for Senate GOP candidates. Both quickly mobilized in March after McConnell announced he would step aside from leadership.
Scott has run a campaign outside of the Senate, campaigning publicly as the candidate closest to Trump and winning endorsements from people who are close to the former and future president. Scott received an outpouring of support on X over the weekend as Trump allies, including Elon Musk, pushed his bid.
Who senators choose, and whether Trump ultimately endorses a candidate in the final hours, could set the tone for Trump’s attempts to assert control over the legislative branch in his second presidency. His relationship with McConnell was strained in his first term, and Trump was often frustrated that lawmakers would not fully bend to his will.
Both Cornyn and Thune have drawn closer to Trump in recent months after criticizing him as he tried to overturn his election defeat in 2020. But the two longtime senators are both viewed by their colleagues as institutionalists more in the mold of McConnell, while Scott has worked to gather support outside of the Senate, and within Trump's inner circle, to pressure an overhaul within.
“We got a mandate a week ago that people want change," said Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, who is supporting Scott, as he walked into a forum for the candidates on Tuesday night. “They want President Trump to have more leeway than he had last time. He was kind of tied down a little bit.”
Tuberville said that whoever is chosen, he wants to make sure Trump “feels good about it.”
No matter who wins, all three senators have shown they will defer to the incoming president as the leader of the party, and that they are willing to cede some of the Senate’s power to do so.
