As the race to become the new Republican Senate leader goes down to the wire, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., is gaining momentum.
A slew of endorsements came in for Scott over Veterans Day weekend as the Senate GOP conference prepared to choose a new leader for the first time in 18 years. Scott is pitted against Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, to replace Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Although the internal conference election is set to be conducted Wednesday by secret ballot, some of Scott’s Senate colleagues have made their support public.
In a press release Saturday, Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., endorsed Scott for leader.
“Any leader of this new majority must be able to work hand-in-hand with President [Donald] Trump to advance his America First agenda. The Senate must lean into advancing this agenda,” Hagerty’s statement read in part. “That’s why I want to see a Senate majority leader who can join me in embracing the Trump agenda, which will unify Senate Republicans. On Wednesday, I will be voting for Rick Scott.”
That evening, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., also endorsed Scott’s leadership bid.
“I will be supporting Rick Scott for Senate majority leader,” Paul wrote on X. “The status quo of $2 trillion annual deficits is unsustainable.”
Scott’s Florida colleague, Sen. Marco Rubio, rumored to be Trump’s pick for secretary of state, issued his endorsement Sunday. “I will be voting for my Florida colleague @ScottforFlorida to be our next Senate GOP leader,” Rubio posted on X.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., also issued an endorsement of Scott on Monday, as reported by Breitbart News.
“I’m looking for a new direction,” Tuberville told Breitbart News in an interview. “John Thune has been in leadership. John Cornyn has been in leadership. Rick Scott is a businessman by trade. He was governor of Florida, and he knows President Trump very well, has been with him the whole way.”
Since then, Tuberville has pushed Scott’s candidacy in the media.
Cornyn and Thune racked up their own endorsements from Senate colleagues to boast about.
Thune recently earned the support of Sens. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and John Hoeven, R-N.D.
“I told both Rick Scott and John Cornyn today that I’ll be casting my first vote for John Thune,” Cramer told Fox News Digital. “Thune has never lied to me. I can’t say that of everybody.”
Cornyn, meanwhile, has earned the support of Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.
“I’m backing John Cornyn for majority leader. In the last two years, nobody has done more to win back the majority than he has,” Hawley’s public statement reads. “He tirelessly raised millions of dollars for competitive Senate races including mine.”
Cornyn, a talented fundraiser, brought in $33 million for Republican Senate candidates in 2024 alone. Over the course of his Senate career, Cornyn has brought in over $400 million.
Yet, outside figures also have gotten involved in the Senate leadership fight. Although Trump has yet to endorse, many close allies of the president-elect have made their opinions known on social media.
“Rick Scott for Senate majority leader!” Elon Musk posted on X, the social media platform owned by the billionaire entrepreneur.
“I said it in May & stand by it today: @ScottforFlorida for Senate Majority Leader,” entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy proclaimed in a post quoting his previous endorsement of Scott.
Right-of-center media figures also have boosted Scott’s candidacy. Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson, current and past Fox News hosts, piled on in support of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” agenda.
“What the hell is going on in the U.S. Senate?” Carlson asked in a lengthy post on X. “Hours after Donald Trump wins the most conclusive mandate in 40 years, Mitch McConnell engineers a coup against his agenda by calling early leadership elections in the Senate. Two of the three candidates hate Trump and what he ran on. One of them, John Cornyn, is an angry liberal whose politics are indistinguishable from Liz Cheney’s. The election is Wednesday, it’s by secret ballot, and it will determine whether or not the new administration succeeds. Rick Scott of Florida is the only candidate who agrees with Donald Trump. Call your senator and demand a public endorsement of Rick Scott. Don’t let McConnell get away with it again.”
Tuberville said he agrees with Carlson’s assessment of Cornyn and Thune’s MAGA bonafides.
“The other two were kind of a little sketchy on President Trump early, finally decided to get on,” Tuberville told Breitbart, referring to Thune and Cornyn. “But at the end of the day, we’re going to have a majority in the Senate and be able to control the floor of the Senate for the next two years, and I want to make sure that we don’t do anything to take away from Donald Trump’s first two years because it’s going to be two of the most important years of our lifetime to get all these crazies out of the way [and] get our country back on track.”
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, was scheduled to lead a private candidate forum Tuesday night for the GOP conference. There, Republican senators would hear each candidate’s leadership vision and how he plans to pass the Trump-Vance agenda.
Scott still needs to “earn it,” Tuberville added in his remarks to Breitbart.
“The next two days, there’ll be a lot of discussion,” the Alabama Republican said. “They’ll be talking to the members, but the vote will be Wednesday and we’ll see what happens.”