LEADERSHIP in both parties of Senate same as Georgia runoffs await.
Georgia runoff to determine majority party
Mitch McConnell was reelected to lead Senate Republicans during the next session of Congress that starts in January, while Charles Schumer will return to his role as the Senate’s top Democrat. But the question of which man will be the majority leader remains open.
Senators in both parties Tuesday are holding their leadership elections, leaving mostly intact the teams that led them through a divisive national election that left control of the chamber to be decided by two January runoffs in Georgia.
Republicans now hold a 53-47 seat majority in the chamber, and after last week’s elections they likely will be left with 50 seats to 48 for Democrats, pending final race calls in North Carolina and Alaska. The seats currently held by Georgia Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue will be on the ballot in the Jan. 5 runoff.
McConnell, who has led Senate Republicans since 2006, was reelected by acclamation, according to a spokesman. Other top leaders, including Sen. John Thune of South Dakota and Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, are expected to be returned to their top jobs. The only key leadership change in McConnell’s team is the addition of Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who is expected to be elected to chair the National Republican Senatorial Committee as it looks to recapture or expand the GOP majority in the 2022 midterm elections.
On the Democratic side, all Democratic leaders were returned to their jobs on Schumer’s team, including Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, who is the party’s whip, and Patty Murray of Washington, who is the assistant Democratic leader.
Schumer created new leadership positions for Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, who will serve as vice chairman of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. And Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto will be vice chairman of outreach.
In other election news, Democrat Cal Cunningham conceded to incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis in North Carolina on Tuesday, saying “the voters have spoken” and it was clear Tillis had won.
Tillis led Cunningham by 94,500 votes, from among more than 5.4 million votes counted so far. Additional absentee and provisional ballots are being counted. Counties finalize their results on Friday.
“I just called Sen. Tillis to congratulate him on winning reelection to a second term in the U.S. Senate and wished him and his family the best in their continued service in the months and years ahead,” Cunningham said. “The voters have spoken, and I respect their decision.”
In California, Republican Michelle Steel defeated firstterm Rep. Harley Rouda on Tuesday in a Southern California district, only the second time in more than two decades that a GOP candidate in the state has defeated an incumbent Democrat.
Rouda captured Orange County’s 48th District in 2018 from longtime Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, part of a Democratic sweep of seven House seats in California that year.
And in Texas, Republican Beth Van Duyne won Texas’ 24th congressional district over Democrat Candace Valenzuela, who also conceded the race Tuesday.
Van Duyne, a former Irving mayor and Trump administration official, was ahead by more than 4,600 votes after last week’s election. She will succeed GOP Rep. Kenny Marchant, one of six Texas Republican congressmen who didn’t seek reelection this year.
Republicans won all those open seats in Texas.
Valenzuela, a former school board trustee in suburban Dallas, conceded the race hours before Van Duyne was declared the winner Tuesday.