John Cornyn Jumps into the Race to Take Over Senate Leadership

Texas Senator John Cornyn was the first to announce his candidacy for Senate Minority Leader after Mitch McConnell revealed he will be stepping down from the role. At 72 years old, Cornyn feels he has the necessary experience and relationships within the Republican conference to succeed McConnell. He has served in the Senate since 2002 and chaired the National Republican Senatorial Committee twice.

Cornyn is positioning himself as a consensus builder who can bring together the different wings of the Senate GOP. He believes the current structure of the Senate is “broken” and in need of reforms to increase transparency and member input. To appeal to more conservative members, Cornyn pledged to restore power to committees and end last minute backroom deals on major legislation. John Cornyn sees himself as the best choice to fix what he views as problems with how the Senate operates.

Cornyn’s Experience

Cornyn touts his lengthy tenure in the Senate and past leadership of the NRSC as making him uniquely qualified. He helped Republicans gain five Senate seats and regain the majority in 2014. Cornyn also notes that he voted with former President Trump over 92% of the time, appealing to the wings of the party that still strongly support the former commander-in-chief.

The race to replace Mitch McConnell is shaping up to be competitive with other potential candidates like John Thune of South Dakota and John Barrasso of Wyoming also seen as strong contenders. How Cornyn differentiates himself while also unifying all factions of the GOP will determine if he can convince his colleagues he is the right man for the job. With announcements just beginning, backroom negotiations will soon follow to find consensus on the next Senate Minority Leader.