U.S. Republican senators have chosen John Thune, senator from South Dakota and current Republican leader, to succeed Mitch McConnell as the next majority leader in the upper chamber. Previously, Thune served as the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference and the Senate Commerce Committee, and became the Republican leader in 2019.
Thune will replace McConnell, the longtime Republican leader, who announced in February that he would step down after leading the party for 18 years. The new leader will take office in January. In the recent election, the Republican Party took four seats from the Democratic Party in the Senate, thus securing a majority in the upper chamber with 53 out of 100 seats, which will strengthen the Republican agenda next year.
The Republican Party is expected to maintain control of the House of Representatives, as elections for some seats have yet to take place. McConnell, 82, has been the longest-serving party leader in the history of the Senate.
In the closed voting, Thune, 63, defeated two contenders: John Cornyn of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida. Scott, a critic of McConnell, described himself as an opponent of the leadership and the dominant group. Thune, first elected to the Senate in 2004, has steadily risen through the ranks of leadership.
