Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) was elected chairman of the Senate Republican Conference this morning, defeating the relatively more conservative Richard Burr of North Carolina. Alexander ran for whip last year, but lost to Trent Lott by one vote.
The leadership election was called after Lott's surprise resignation announcement, and current conference chairman Jon Kyl's (AZ) unopposed run for the whip spot.
Roll Call reports that Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) is dropping out of the leadership race for chair of the Republican Conference. This leaves Sens. Lamar Alexander (TN), who lost the November 2006 whip race by one vote against Trent Lott (MS), and Richard Burr (NC) as the two candidates.
The conference chair position is being vacated by Jon Kyl (AZ), who is now running unopposed for whip after Lott's sudden resignation announcement.
The Republican leadership races on December 6, triggered by the sudden resignation announcement by Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott (MS), will have one less potential competitor. Senator John Thune (SD) has announced that he won't be running for any of the open leadership posts, CQ reports, instead remaining in his current role as chief deputy whip. He had previously been considering the posts of conference chair or chair of the policy committee.
Thune had become a favorite of Republicans after he defeated then-Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D) in 2004. But for now, it looks like he won't be trying to build on his giant-killer reputation by moving up in his own party's leadership.
In the wake of Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott's (R-MS) sudden resignation announcement, the Senate Republican Conference has scheduled their leadership elections for December 6.
Incumbent conference chairman Jon Kyl (AZ) is expected to win the whip race unopposed, while the conference chair race will be contested by Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX), Richard Burr (NC), and Lamar Alexander (TN).
The race to succeed Trent Lott as Senate GOP Whip is over — but another leadership race could get bloody as a result. Lamar Alexander, who lost to Lott by one vote just over a year ago, announced that he is instead running for conference chairman. That position is being vacated by Jon Kyl of Arizona, who now seems to be running unopposed for the whip slot.
As for the conference chair spot, there were already two candidates running for it — Richard Burr of North Carolina and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas — meaning they'll now have three candidates who all have their own flaws. Hutchison has said she won't run again in 2012, and might even run for governor of Texas in 2010, potentially causing a short tenure and another leadership race in a few years. Burr's approval ratings are very poor, opening him up to a potential challenge in 2010. And Alexander himself has already lost a leadership race on his own.
So where do GOP Senators stand on the President's plans to escalate the war?
Despite the administration's agressive campaign to garner support for the escalation of U.S. forces in Iraq, the plan is increasingly being met with skepticism where it really hurts: key Republicans in the Senate. And if the President loses his own party, he loses his bid to escalate.
So we're keeping track here at Election Central of which GOP Senators have passed judgment on the plan and what they've said. Here's the tally as it stands now: Seven Republicans firmly against and nine more expressing reluctance or skepticism.
Our full rundown of who stands where is after the jump -- and we'll update it as new info comes in. Have we missed anyone? Let us know in comments or by email (talk at talkingpointsmemo.com).
