Sen. Rick Scott joins race to succeed Mitch McConnell as Senate GOP leader

May 22 (UPI) -- Sen. Rick Scott of Florida announced Wednesday that he is making it a three-way race to succeed Mitch McConnell as the next Senate Republican leader.

Scott will face Senate minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, for the role currently held by McConnell, R-Ky., who will have served 18 years when he steps down in November.

"I am running to be the next Senate Republican leader," Scott wrote in a post on X, after The Wall Street Journal first reported his plans.

"This is not a time to make small adjustments. I believe we need a dramatic sea change to save our country and that's why I'm running to be Republican leader."

McConnell, 82, who is the longest-serving party leader in U.S. history, announced in February that he would step down as the Republican leader.

"One of life's most under-appreciated talents is to know when it's time to move on to life's next chapter," McConnell said earlier this year from the Senate floor. "This will be my last term as Republican leader of the Senate."

Scott, who lost to McConnell in 2022, called for "a mandate for dramatic change" in Wednesday's letter to colleagues announcing his decision.

"I believe that our voters want us to use this leadership election to make a choice to upend the status quo in Washington," Scott said, as he called for increased transparency and a six-year leadership term limit.

"I think we need to be way more transparent with each other and the American people," Scott wrote. "There have been far too many backroom deals cut in secret, rarely do things go through committee process and it's accepted practice to not allow amendment votes to trillion-dollar spending bills."

"There ought to be a different way to run the conference. I read the Constitution, we're supposed to represent our states, it's been very difficult to do that," Scott added. "We don't get amendment votes, bills don't go through committee. There's a lot of problems here."

Before the former two-term Florida governor can run for Senate leadership, he has to win an election first. Scott is running for another six-year Senate term in November.