Rick Scott Becomes Frontrunner To Challenge Mitch McConnell For GOP Senate Leadership

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) has become a frontrunner to challengeSen.  Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) for Senate majority leader should the Republicans win back the majority in the upper chamber in the midterm elections.

On Sunday, Scott avoided denying that he would run against McConnell.

“I’m not focused on anything except getting a majority Tuesday night,” Scott said during an appearance on NBC News’ Meet the Press. “Everybody wants to ask me about a bunch of things that going to happen after Tuesday night. My whole focus is on Tuesday night.”

Moderator Chuck Todd called Scott out, saying that he gave a “non-answer.”

McConnell was criticized by some Republicans for refusing to support former President Donald Trump‘s claims of a “stolen” and “rigged” 2020 election, which he lost to President Joe Biden. So far, no one has thrown their name into the ring to challenge McConnell. After Scott wrote a September op-ed which some took to be a criticism of McConnell, pundits agreed that a possible motive could be setting himself up to challenge the Kentucky Republican. Others say that Scott may just be using the speculation as a way to get his name out to a wider audience.

This comes after Scott in February said that his vote was “absolutely” McConnell’s. Since then, the two have had disagreements with Scott going so far as to present his own 11-point political and fundraising agenda. At the time, McConnell said that it would not represent the official Republican agenda.