WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 03: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) answers questions during a press conference following a weekly policy lunch at the U.S. Capitol on December 03, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Getty)
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), the longest-serving party leader in the upper chamber’s history, announced Friday that he will not run for reelection in 2026.
McConnell’s parting speech recounted how his journey interning for former Sen. John Sherman Cooper (R-Kentucky) led to leading the Republican conference for 18 years.
“Seven times, my fellow Kentuckians have sent me to the Senate. Every day in between, I’ve been humbled by the trust they’ve placed in me to do their business right here. Representing our commonwealth has been the honor of a lifetime. I will not seek this honor an eighth time. My current term in the Senate will be my last,” McConnell said in his speech.
McConnell said he told his conference he would not run last year after stepping down as Senate leader after the 2024 election.
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McConnell was first elected in 1984 and has guided the Republican Party from President Ronald Reagan’s limited government approach to President Donald Trump‘s economic populism.
“Thanks to Ronald Reagan’s determination, the work of strengthening American hard power was well underway when I arrived in the Senate. But since then, we’ve allowed that power to atrophy. And today, a dangerous world threatens to outpace the work of rebuilding it. So, lest any of our colleagues still doubt my intentions for the remainder of my term, I have some unfinished business to attend to,” McConnell said further in his speech.
McConnell leaves behind the legacy of remaking the U.S. Supreme Court by installing three justices with a conservative supermajority in Trump’s first administration.
McConnell also thanked his wife, Elaine Cho, who served as Trump’s transportation secretary in his first term.
McConnell has faced health obstacles, including childhood polio that left his leg paralyzed and falls, leading to broken ribs and wheelchair use, but he did not mention that in his speech.
Former Kentucky GOP gubernatorial candidate Daniel Cameron announced he will run for the Senate.
In recent years, McConnell has tangled with Trump after blaming him publicly for the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Trump recently said that McConnell was “not mentally equipped” for the job of GOP leader.
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