CNN
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Potential successors to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell sought to ally themselves to former President Donald Trump in the final stages of the campaign, hoping to help the party regain control of the Senate and help themselves. They are running around the country, wreaking havoc in battleground states.
Sen. John Cornyn and Senate Republican John Thune, the leading candidates to succeed Mr. McConnell, have stumbled in their campaigns by pouring millions of dollars into the campaign coffers of Republican candidates, but this is not the case with secret ballots. This is part of an effort to solidify support for the event. The leadership election will be held on November 13th. Republican senators and aides say the race could go either way.
The big wildcard that will determine the race: the aftermath of the presidential election the week before and the role it will play in anointing the leadership if President Trump wins. But if Mr. Trump loses, Mr. Thune and Mr. Cornyn will have to make the case for how the Republican Party can emerge from the political wilderness, an argument that senators say will have a huge impact on the secret ballot. It is argued that there is a possibility of having
Nevertheless, Mr. Cornyn and Mr. Thune are aware that Mr. Trump could influence particularly factions in the Republican conference, and have focused on strengthening their relationship with the former president in recent months. .
Last month, when Trump stumbled in Reno, Nevada, Cornyn was photographed grinning and giving a thumbs up next to the former president. And when President Trump recorded a podcast interview with Joe Rogan in Austin, Texas, in October, Cornyn was on the tarmac.
“I’m happy to welcome President Trump to Texas,” Cornyn wrote on X, posting a photo of President Trump on the plane.
Thune has met with Trump several times since March at Mar-a-Lago. Thune met with Trump transition team members Howard Lutnick and Linda McMahon in Washington earlier this month, as did Cornyn, the people said.
The third party leadership candidate, Sen. Rick Scott, is seen by senators as a strong candidate in the race and has been in regular contact with President Trump in his home state of Florida, but he is not sure whether he will be able to make his own decision this fall. He is obsessed with his re-election campaign. . Mr. Scott, a McConnell critic, has been more willing in recent years to align himself with Mr. Trump than Mr. Cornyn or Mr. Thune.
“We need someone to represent President Trump’s voters,” Scott told right-wing activist Laura Loomer on a podcast last week. “So that’s what I’m running for.”
Some Republicans have argued that Trump should withdraw from the race altogether.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a supporter of Thune, said he talks about the leadership race almost every time he meets Trump.
“I would advise against running for president,” Marin told CNN, echoing the opinion of many Republican senators who believe it is up to senators, not Trump, to choose the leader of their party. .
McConnell, the longest-serving leader in Senate history, has not said who he supports as his successor. Both Mr. Thune and Mr. Cornyn are closely politically aligned with the longtime Republican leader.
Many Republican senators remain cautious about who they support, making it difficult to determine who has the advantage in the race. Newly elected senators participate in elections, but those who have left the Senate do not.
“There’s no bad choice. I’m going to wait until November to cast a secret ballot,” said West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, who is seeking to ascend to the Republican leadership.
Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, currently the No. 3 Republican in the Senate, also declined to say who he supports. “My biggest focus right now is the President of the United States, Donald Trump. Secondly, the Republican majority in the United States Senate,” he said.
Mr. Barrasso appears ready to take the reins as Mr. Thune’s successor, regardless of who replaces Mr. McConnell, as Mr. Thune is term-limited after six years in the role. is.
Mr. Cornyn held the No. 2 position for six years before Mr. Thune and previously served as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, a role that allowed him to develop close relationships with many senators. Mr. Cornyn’s role in running the NRSC for two cycles helped him build a fundraising juggernaut that he used to regularly make large donations to his Republican colleagues over the years.
But several Republican senators who came to the Senate after Mr. Cornyn took charge only knew Mr. Thune as a whip.
The whip plays an important and influential role. Because they must build trust with rank-and-file members who ask them to speak personally and openly about their political needs and vulnerabilities when it comes to voting on bills, candidates, and other issues.
Asked if he wanted more public support from Republican senators, Thune said he wasn’t asking anyone for it.
“That’s not what I’m asking people to do. I think that’s probably going to happen the week we come back, because then it’s going to be a real exercise. I’m happy with the situation we’re in,” Thune said before the Senate went into pre-election recess.
Cornyn said he thinks many senators don’t want to make a final decision on who to support until they’re in the voting room.
“I think people don’t want to make decisions too early, so we continue to talk to our members about everything from the heavy lifting we have to do next year to fundraising to things like the whole wax bowl thing. But… There will probably be no decision until that day,” he said in September.
Both men have met repeatedly with Republican senators to determine what changes they would like to see in how the Senate operates under their leadership.
In a letter to colleagues in September, Mr. Cornyn praised Mr. Thune and Mr. Scott for conducting the leadership race in a “respectful and civil manner.” He pledged to increase the influence of committee chairs to develop legislation and get it debated on the floor. He also promised to preserve the legislative filibuster, which most Democrats and even Trump have said they want to abolish.
“We must reject any attempt to nuke the Congressional filibuster,” Cornyn wrote. “Liberal activists will lament the day the tables were turned.”
Thun agreed. “We are all committed to the filibuster, and I have had several conversations with my colleagues to hear their views and discuss what they would like to see in our next leader.” About how I work. ”
Although neither Mr. Cornyn nor Mr. Thune originally came from the MAGA wing of the party, both recognize its power and have moved toward embracing and formally supporting Mr. Trump. But that wasn’t always the case, especially with Toon.
When Thune told CNN that Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election were “going to fail like a shot dog,” Trump said he wanted to challenge Republicans in the 2022 Senate race. They called for Mr. Thune to run in the primary election.
Trump called on South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to challenge Thune, but she ultimately refused.
“I would love to see the great South Dakota Governor @KristiNoem run against RINO @SenJohnThune in the upcoming 2022 primaries. She would do a great job in the US Senate, but if not for Kristi , others have already listed. South Dakota needs strong leadership now,” President Trump tweeted at the time.
After the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, Thune refused to vote to convict Trump in his impeachment trial after the attack. He said his actions were “unacceptable.” Thune also called on President Trump to withdraw from the 2016 campaign in the wake of the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape.
And both Thune and Cornyn question whether Trump’s message is enough to win the election and appeal to a wide range of voters.
“For him to win the general election, he has to start campaigning, which means his message needs to appeal to independent voters and moderate Republicans,” Republican Tim Tim. Thune, who supported Sen. Scott, told CNN that South Carolina’s presidential candidate could be elected in early 2024.
After Trump won the New Hampshire primary, Cornyn, who supported Trump, also questioned Trump’s suitability for the election.
“After the primary, we need to appeal to a broader audience than just the primary voters,” Cornyn told CNN. “You can’t win with just your own base.”
Mr. Thune and Mr. Cornyn have raised millions of dollars to support Republican candidates and sent large numbers to support their candidates, hoping to ensure that if elected, they would lead the majority rather than the minority. visited the states of
“We all want to get a majority and that’s what we’re all focused on,” Thune said. “I think the team has realized that they want their next leader to be a majority leader, so everyone is doing everything they can to make sure they get a majority.”
Thune raised $31 million this term, some of which he sent to the NRSC and some directly to candidates, he said. The $4 million he donated to the NRSC set a record for the largest amount ever donated to the organization. And that means he donated $9 million to the NRSC during his lifetime.
Thune also has appeared or is scheduled to appear at 200 candidate and NRSC events this cycle, making him the most active member of the Senate Republican campaign arm behind its chairman, Sen. Steve Daines of Montana. It becomes.
Thune’s supporters say that although Cornyn played the role, he is the only candidate to have served as a committee chair and the only candidate to have served as chief negotiator on Trump’s 2017 tax policy. He notes several unique qualities that make him the perfect person for the job. It also plays an important role in guiding the passage of legislation.
Thune’s supporters also point out that he was the only candidate to raise $2 million in a D.C. fundraiser for Trump, representing half of the total raised at the event.
They also point out his remarkable progress. He defeated then-Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle in 2004 and is now on track to become the Republican leader.
While Mr. Thune has ramped up donations to his colleagues in the wake of Mr. McConnell’s resignation, Mr. Cornyn has spent years on an extraordinary fundraising campaign, methodically building a fundraising machine to support challengers and incumbents. Ta. That momentum was fueled in part by his running the NRSC from 2009 to 2013.
He recently said he had reached the “extraordinary milestone” of raising more than $400 million since becoming a senator in 2002. That means he is the top fundraiser for Senate Republicans other than McConnell over the past 15 years. Most of that money went “directly to Senate Republican colleagues, candidates, leadership PACs, and the NRSC,” he said.
Cornyn led the Republican Party during the first two years of the Trump administration and helped advance policy, but in the wake of the Uvalde school shooting, he signed a major agreement with the Biden administration’s Democratic Party to overhaul gun laws. . This cycle, he has traveled to raise money for Senate challengers in states like Michigan, Indiana and Nevada, and has also participated in fundraisers for the Trump-Vance ticket.
According to allies, he raised $26 million this campaign alone, including $11.8 million for the NRSC.
