U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was re-elected to his leadership position Wednesday, defeating U.S. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla).
Though U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) voiced his support for McConnell yesterday, Republican Katie Britt, who will fill Alabama’s only open seat in the U.S. Senate, would not say who she supported.
Former President Donald Trump, who announced his presidential bid for 2024 on Tuesday night, has had repeated clashes with McConnell over the years. After an underwhelming Republican midterm performance, Trump blamed McConnell for “blowing” the landslide Republican victory expected by many conservatives around the country.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also accused McConnell of hindering the party’s election performance by “abandoning” Blake Masters in the Arizona Senate race because Masters vowed to vote against McConnell. Cruz said that McConnell “would rather the Democrat win.”
McConnell has served multiple terms as Senate Minority Leader. He was elected to the Senate in 1985. He has been the leader of the Senate Republicans since 2007.
After the leadership election, Britt issued a statement expressing her excitement for her freshman class of Republican senators. The release did not mention who she supported.
“I believe that having this spirited internal debate on how we can best fight to put American families first and defend our conservative values is good for our party and good for our country,” Britt said. “Now, it’s time to move forward together as a united front determined to do everything in our power to stop President Biden and his congressional allies from crushing hardworking Alabamians and Americans even further.”
Britt expressed the importance of helping Herschel Walker defeat U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) in the December 6 runoff election in Georgia.
Warnock and Walker’s race will determine the last spot in the Senate. If Walker wins, the Senate will be split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats. However, the power of a tie-breaking vote in the Senate will be left up to Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, giving the Democrats a slight advantage.
Trump endorsed Britt before the Republican primary election earlier this year. Nevertheless, Alabama’s Future PAC, which received $2 million from McConnell, spent over $500,000 in Britt’s favor.
1819 News reached out to Britt to ask who she supported for Senate Republican leadership but received no response.
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email will.blakely@1819news.com or find him on Twitter and Facebook.
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