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Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) will challenge Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for the post of minority leader when the conference holds leadership elections.
Scott, 69, announced he would stand against McConnell, 80, during a closed-door lunch for Senate Republicans on Tuesday and formally announced his intention on social media hours later.
“The status quo is broken and big change is needed,” tweeted Scott, a former Florida governor. “It’s time for new leadership in the Senate that unites Republicans to advance a bold conservative agenda.
“That’s why I’m running to be the Senate Republican Leader.”
McConnell did not seem unduly concerned by Scott’s challenge, telling reporters that “we had a rather lengthy and fulsome discussion, not only of the election, but the way forward.”
“I think the outcome is pretty clear,” added the Kentuckian. “I want to repeat again: I have the votes, I will be elected. The only issue is whether we do it sooner or later, and I think we’ll probably have another discussion about that tomorrow.”
“I don’t own this job,” McConnell added. “Anybody in the conference is certainly entitled to challenge me, and I welcome the contest.”
Scott had previously joined a group of prominent Republican senators — including Ted Cruz of Texas, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, his fellow Floridian Marco Rubio, and Josh Hawley of Missouri — who pushed for Wednesday’s scheduled leadership vote to be delayed until after the Dec.
