Sen. Cornyn looks ahead to race for GOP leader

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Sen. John Cornyn is running to lead his party in the U.S. Senate come November, and he’s hoping his new title will be Senate Majority Leader.

Current Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced in February he is stepping down from the job after an 18-year reign. Cornyn, a right-hand man to McConnell, was the first to publicize his bid for the position.

“I’ve been in the Senate a long time now, and I’ve seen the Senate work well,” Cornyn said in an interview with KXAN. “I’d like to see the Senate back working again.”

He faces current minority whip John Thune (R-SD) and Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), who has held the No. 3 spot since 2019, but recently opted for party whip.

“These leadership races are very unusual, because it’s all the members, Republican members, in the Senate,” Cornyn said. “We hope that after this next election, there’ll be more of us, and we’ll be in the majority.”

Cornyn laid out his goals for the Senate in his initial statement. “We will improve communication, increase transparency and ensure inclusion of every member’s expertise and opinion,” it reads. “There will be no more backroom deals or forced votes on bills without adequate time for review, debate, and amendment.”

Cornyn recently led the way in gaining Republican support for a multi-billion dollar aid package to Ukraine, Taiwan, Gaza and Israel. “History does have a tendency to repeat itself,” the senator said. “It’s in our national interest to do this.” Cornyn also voiced support for the CHIPS act, which brought a $40 billion Samsung investment to Central Texas.

“I knew that Texas was the place to do this one,” he said. “That’s going to create a lot of new jobs and opportunities, but also demands on our educational institutions to produce the educated workforce to be able to fill those good, well paying jobs.”

As for his colleague Sen. Ted Cruz, who voted against both CHIPS and the aid package, Cornyn gave his full support for reelection.

“I know there’s going to be an incredible amount of money coming from out of state to try to defeat him,” Cornyn said. “I’m doing everything I can to be helpful to him and I am pretty confident he’s going to be successful.”

Cornyn insists his main objective is to bring the Republican party together.

“After these primaries are over, let’s get unified because the big contest is going to be in November,” he said. “I think it’s a truism that when Republicans, or any political party are divided, the main people that benefit from it is your opposition party.”

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