McConnell defeats Scott in last-minute race for Senate GOP leader

Senate Republicans voted Wednesday to elect Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) as their leader over National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Rick Scott (R-Fla.) who announced his desire to replace McConnell at an acrimonious conference meeting Tuesday.

A majority of GOP senators voted to elect McConnell leader after a motion backed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and other conservatives to delay the leadership election until after the Dec. 6 Georgia runoff failed.  

The final vote was 37-10, with one voting “present.”

Scott’s last-minute challenge to McConnell represented the toughest competition the senior Republican senator has faced for the top leadership job since he became Senate minority leader in 2007.

Even so, McConnell wound up winning by a comfortable margin, retaining the support of many GOP colleagues after he raised more than $200 million to help Republicans win back the Senate majority this election cycle.