GOP Win Raises Stakes For Cornyn’s Leadership Bid

C APITAL Highlights 

With Republicans regaining majority control of the Senate, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is making his bid to become that chamber’s majority leader. U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, had previously announced he would step down as party leader. Republicans will hold at least a 53-45 edge in January, with Senate races in two states still undecided as of Friday morning.

According to The Dallas Morning News, Cornyn said voters rejected Democrats’ “years of disastrous border policies, reckless spending, and failed management that has caused the Senate to lurch from one avoidable crisis to the next.”

Cornyn faces competition from Senate Minority Whip John Thune of South Dakota and Sen. Rick Scott of Florida. Senate Republicans plan to hold their leadership elections this week by secret ballot. If elected leader, Cornyn vowed to improve transparency with GOP senators.

“There will be no more backroom deals or forced votes on bills without adequate time for review, debate, and amendment,” he said.

Republicans Largely Flip Rio Grande Valley From Blue To Red 

More counties in the Rio Grande Valley and surrounding areas went Republican this election, continuing what GOP leaders are calling the culmination of a years-long strategy. The party has managed to flip 16 counties since the 2016 presidential election, according to the Texas Standard. The economy clearly was a major issue among voters in this election between former president Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

“A lot of the rural parts of Texas are shifting red because the economy is less good,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a University of Houston political scientist. “And the threats to the oil and gas industry that people perceive are coming from Democrats are driving the communities to vote Republican.”

For example, in Starr County, Biden beat Trump by five points in 2020, but four years later voters there chose the former president over Harris by 16 points.