John Thune of South Dakota chosen as the next Senate GOP leader, replacing Mitch McConnell

Republican senators chose South Dakota Sen. John Thune as their new leader in a closed-door vote on Wednesday. He will take over longtime Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell’s place when he officially steps down in January.

Three senators vied for the top spot, including Thune, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas and Sen. Rick Scott of Florida. Thune, in his fourth Senate term, ultimately won the contest after two rounds of a secret ballot vote.

In the first round of voting, sources tell Scripps News that Scott received the lowest number of votes and did not move on to the second ballot. Therefore the final voting round was between Thune and Cornyn with the senators getting 29 and 24 votes, respectively.

Shortly after he was chosen, Thune posted the following statement to social media: "I am extremely honored to have earned the support of my colleagues to lead the Senate in the 119th Congress, and I am beyond proud of the work we have done to secure our majority and the White House. This Republican team is united behind President Trump's agenda, and our work starts today."

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Well-liked and a respected communicator, Thune, 63, was perceived as a front-runner for much of the year. He is currently the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, and took over for McConnell for a few weeks last year when he was on a medical leave. He is also a former chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.

As he geared up to run for leader, Thune spent much of the year campaigning for his colleagues. According to his aides, he raised more than $31 million to elect Senate Republicans this cycle, including a $4 million transfer from his own campaign accounts to the Senate’s main campaign arm.

One liability for Thune was his previously rocky relationship with Trump. Thune was highly critical of the then-president as he tried to overturn his election defeat in 2020 and after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by Trump’s supporters. Thune said then that Trump’s efforts to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power were “inexcusable.”

This year, though, Thune and Trump have talked frequently on the phone and Thune visited the then-GOP candidate at his home in Florida. Thune told The Associated Press over the summer that he views their potential relationship as a professional one. If they both win their elections, Thune said, “we’ve got a job to do.”

He also reassured the Senate he would work closely with the incoming president despite their differences.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the outgoing majority leader, congratulated Thune on the Senate floor Wednesday. “I look forward to working with him. We've done many bipartisan things here in the Senate together, and I hope that continues," he said.

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In February, McConnell announced he would step down as Senate GOP leader at the start of 2025. The 82-year-old is the longest-serving Senate party leader in history, holding the position for nearly two decades.

The Kentucky senator said he still plans to finish out his current term, which ends in 2027.

McConnell gave no specific reason for the timing of his decision to step back as leader but said during the announcement he had been contemplating it for months.

It was said the decision was not related to his health, having suffered a concussion in 2023 and two public episodes where his face briefly froze while he was speaking.

Though McConnell ultimately endorsed President-elect Donald Trump for a second term, the two became estranged in 2020 when McConnell refused to abide by Trump’s lie that the election of President Joe Biden was the product of fraud. This was said to put a strain on his relationship with Republican senators who firmly aligned with Trump over the recent years.