Last Updated on November 12, 2022
Several Senate Republicans have signed onto a letter that seeks to postpone the Senate leadership elections following the Republicans’ poor performance in the midterms.
Current GOP Senators along with Senate candidates have attributed the lackluster GOP performance to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
GOP Sens. Josh Hawley (Mo.), Marco Rubio (Fla.), Ron Johnson (Wis.), Mike Lee (Utah), Rick Scott (Fla.), and Ted Cruz (Texas) have called for a postponement of the leadership elections, which are currently set to take place this coming Wednesday.
“The Senate GOP leadership vote next week should be postponed,” Sen. Rubio posted to Twitter.
“We need to make sure that those who want to lead us are genuinely committed to fighting for the priorities & values of the working Americans (of every background),” the Florida US Senator added.
Citing Republican candidate Herschel Walker’s Georgia runoff election, Sen. Hawley quote tweeted Rubio’s post: “Exactly right. I don’t know why Senate GOP would hold a leadership vote for the next Congress before this election is finished. We have a runoff in #GASenate — are they saying that doesn’t matter? Don’t disenfranchise @HerschelWalker.”
Exactly right. I don’t know why Senate GOP would hold a leadership vote for the next Congress before this election is finished. We have a runoff in #GASenate – are they saying that doesn’t matter? Don’t disenfranchise @HerschelWalker https://t.co/atIETyoCKY
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) November 11, 2022
Sen. Cruz echoing a similar narrative, tweeted, “We don’t yet know whether we’ll have a majority & Herschel Walker deserves a say in our leadership. Critically, we need to hear a specific plan for the next 2 yrs from any candidate for leadership.”
It makes no sense for Senate to have leadership elections before GA runoff.
We don’t yet know whether we’ll have a majority & Herschel Walker deserves a say in our leadership.
Critically, we need to hear a specific plan for the next 2 yrs from any candidate for leadership.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) November 11, 2022
The letter the Republican Senators have signed onto reportedly calls for “serious discussions” about why there was no “Red Wave.”
“We are all disappointed that a Red Wave failed to materialize, and there are multiple reasons it did not. We need to have serious discussions within our conference as to why and what we can do to improve our chances in 2024,” the letter states, according to Politico.
“Holding leadership elections without hearing from the candidates as to how they will perform their leadership duties and before we know whether we will be in the majority or even who all our members are violating the most basic principles of a democratic process,” it continues.
National File previously reported on the Arizona US Senate candidate, Blake Masters, and his disdain for Senate leadership:
Blake Masters, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Arizona, said that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “hates him,” adding that he would not vote to keep McConnell as leader if elected. “I certainly think we need new leadership,” Masters said, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
The Senate Leadership Fund (SLF) — which is heavily influenced by McConnell — previously cancelled over $9 million in ad buys supporting Masters this past summer. The president of SLF, Steven Law, said they wanted to focus on directing funds to help Ohio U.S. Senate candidate JD Vance.
READ MORE: Blake Masters Says He Will Vote to Replace McConnell if Elected
Stay tuned to National File for any updates.