Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is apparently undaunted by the possibility that his fellow Republicans may lose the majority in the Senate in November, saying he plans to stay on as the Republican leader if that happens.
During a press conference, one reporter asked McConnell if he intended to keep his GOP leader seat even if Republicans lose the majority.
“I do,” said McConnell, who became the GOP leader in 2007, The Hill [1] reports. Most notably, he is the longest-serving Republican leader and has been majority leader since 2015, when Republicans gained control of the Senate. Prior to that, beginning in January 2007, McConnell was the minority leader.
McConnell is well aware that Republicans have a real fight come November if they want to keep their 53-seat majority lead and has warned the battle “will be a real dogfight.”
“Let me just say that the Senate majority has not been a certainty at any point this cycle,” he said in an April interview [2] on Fox News. “We always knew from the beginning, and I’ve said constantly, that it’s going to be a dogfight.”
The Democrats are gaining ground and may well take over control of the Senate, political handicappers say, adding they only need a net gain of four seats to win the majority.
This means McConnell, who likes to call himself the Grim Reaper, [3] could be a little worried. He’s earned this title because he likes to scuttle Democratic legislation and says he intends to keep doing so.
And some Republicans are on shaky ground, including Susan Collins (Maine), Thom Tillis (N.C.), David Perdue (Ga.), and Martha McSally (Ariz.). Each is considered a toss-up according to the Cook Political Report. Other Republican sens. like David Perdue (Ga.), Kelly Loeffler (Ga.), Joni Ernst (Iowa), and Steve Daines (Kansas) are considered “lean Republicans” [4] meaning their affiliations to their party are weak at best.
This leaves at least some Democrats hoping to effect positive change.
“As voters across the country grow increasingly fed up with Mitch McConnell’s corruption and gridlock in Washington, Republicans must answer whether they plan to vote to keep their toxic leader in charge if they are in the Senate next year,” said a statement released by Stewart Boss, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
So perhaps McConnell’s days in the senate are finally numbered. It couldn’t happen to a nicer senator.