Those looking for the most competitive and consequential intraparty fight in Republican politics right now might be tempted to look at one of the many ongoing GOP primaries, but I’d recommend looking to Capitol Hill, instead.
It was nearly three months ago when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that he’d step down from his leadership post at the end of the current Congress, and it wasn’t long before Senate Minority Whip John Thune and former Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn launched campaigns to succeed the Kentucky Republican. Their behind-the-scenes wrangling tends not to generate a lot headlines, but both men are investing a lot of time and energy into the contest.
Yesterday, however, the two-person race became a three-person race. NBC News reported:
Sen. Rick Scott of Florida announced Wednesday that he is jumping into the race to succeed Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell after he leaves the post later this year. … He said in a letter to colleagues obtained by NBC News that his bid to become Republican leader stemmed from a belief that “now is a moment we need dramatic change.”
Scott is currently running for re-election in the Sunshine State. Evidently, the GOP incumbent not only expects to win that race — he won by 0.2% of the vote six years ago — the Florida Republican also believes he can run both campaigns simultaneously.
It also helps explain why Scott was among the first prominent Republicans to show up at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse for Donald Trump’s criminal trial to show support for the defendant: The former president has been