WASHINGTON — Texas Sen. John Cornyn has told his colleagues he plans to run for Senate Republican leader. This makes him the first senator to announce a campaign after Senator Mitch McConnell said he will leave office in November.
Cornyn, who was McConnell’s No. 2 in leadership before being fired from his position five years ago, cited his experience in that role in a statement Thursday to fellow senators announcing his candidacy. But he also tries to distinguish himself from McConnell by saying, “I believe the Senate is broken — that’s not news to anyone.”
“I have learned through experience what works in the Senate and what doesn’t,” Cornyn said. “And I am confident that Senate Republicans can restore our institution to the essential role it plays in our constitutional republic.”
There has long been speculation that Cornyn, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota and Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming — the “three Johns” — would vie to replace McConnell, R-Ky., if and when McConnell were to resign. But the longtime leader’s surprise announcement on Wednesday that he will not run for Republican leadership again after the November election has kicked off the campaign earlier than expected, nearly nine months before Republican senators are expected to vote gather and elect a new leader behind closed doors. .
Cornyn, a former Texas attorney general who was first elected to the Senate in 2002, is a prominent member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a popular member of the GOP conference who is seen as a steady hand. He has managed to bridge some of the deep divisions within the caucus in recent years, while also occasionally negotiating with Democrats, as he did in 2022 on bipartisan gun legislation.
He is also a prolific fundraiser for the party, having already raised a total of $13 million for incumbents, the Senate campaign arm and for Republican nominees in the Senate in the 2024 cycle.