Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott talking to reporters and supporters outside La Teresita restaurant in Tampa on Nov. 5, 2024. (Photo by Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix)
Has Rick Scott emerged as the front-runner to succeed Mitch McConnell as majority leader for Senate Republicans? Two betting markets think so.
On Monday, Polymarket gave the Florida Republican a 60% chance of succeeding McConnell, who announced earlier this year that he would step down from leading Senate Republicans following the general election. Polymarket places Idaho Sen. John Thune in second place, with just a 35% of becoming the next leader. The third candidate in the race, Texas’ John Cornyn, is a distant third at 6%, as of 9 a.m. eastern time.
Kalshi, another online betting site, shows Scott with a 57% chance of succeeding McConnell. Thune is second there at 33%, with Cornyn at 5%, also as of 9 a.m. eastern time.
Momentum for Scott to succeed McConnell picked up steam over the weekend, as some big-name people in MAGA world such as Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson, and Vivek Ramaswamy endorsed him.
Scott has also picked up support from Florida GOP congressional colleagues, such as Sen. Marco Rubio and Reps. Carlos Gimenez, Maria Elvira Salazar, Byron Donalds, and Greg Steube.
“I am running for Senate Republican leader because I believe now is a moment we need dramatic change in Washington to upend the status quo & make sure President Trump’s agenda gets done,” Scott said on Saturday on X, where he posted a letter that he sent to his Senate colleagues in May when he made the case for his selection and was prescient in predicting that it would be a “watershed election.”
“Americans will reject wholesale the Biden/Democrat destruction of our country,” Scott wrote in May. “I believe President Trump will win with a mandate for dramatic change, we will have a Republican Senate majority and a bigger Republican advantage in the House. We will have a historic opportunity to save our country’s problems. Over the years, the Senate has become the place where change oriented conservative policies come to die, and I believe now is the time to change that.”
Scott noted in that letter that he has known Donald Trump “since before either of us ran for any political office,” but Trump has not endorsed in the race and it’s uncertain whether he will before Wednesday’s vote.
Recess appointments
On Sunday, the president-elect said that any Republican senator who wants the leadership position had to agree to “recess appointments” — temporary appointments that can take place when the chamber is out of session.
“Any Republican Senator seeking the coveted LEADERSHIP position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate!), without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner,” Trump wrote on X. “Sometimes the votes can take two years, or more. This is what they did four years ago, and we cannot let it happen again. We need positions filled IMMEDIATELY! Additionally, no Judges should be approved during this period of time because the Democrats are looking to ram through their Judges as the Republicans fight over Leadership. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. THANK YOU!”
“100% agree,” Scott quickly responded via X. “I will do whatever it takes to get your nominations through as quickly as possible.”
Thune and Cornyn quickly followed suit.