The race for the Senate Republican Conference’s top job is revving up with the leadership elections just six weeks away.
The top contenders are spending October on the campaign trail to burnish their fundraising chops and try to win over the GOP candidates who, if they win their races, would be able to vote in the leadership elections.
This morning, we’re going to focus on the “Three Johns” — Senate Minority Whip John Thune, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Senate GOP Conference Chair John Barrasso.
Thune and Cornyn are running to succeed McConnell, while Barrasso is running unopposed for GOP whip, the No. 2 job.
The Senate adjourned last Wednesday until after the Nov. 5 elections, and all three have already hit the campaign trail to boost GOP candidates and incumbents as the party sets its sights on the Senate majority.
Thune: The South Dakota Republican was in Nevada and Ohio this past weekend to campaign for the Republican challengers there — Sam Brown and Bernie Moreno, respectively.
On Monday and Tuesday, Thune was in New York City raising money for Brown and Moreno as well as Kari Lake, Dave McCormick and former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.). McCormick is challenging Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), while Lake and Rogers are running for the open seats in Arizona and Michigan, respectively.
Thune is heading to Michigan later this week for Rogers and will be in Indiana next week for Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), who’s nearly certain to win his race. Thune also has plans to travel to Montana later this month to campaign for Tim Sheehy, the Republican challenging Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.).
More stops are expected. By the end of this week, Thune’s fundraising total for the 2024 cycle will hit $30 million, per a source familiar with his political operation. Thune transferred $4 million to the NRSC last month from his campaign account, the largest transfer in the organization’s history.
Cornyn: The Texan, who preceded Thune as GOP whip, told reporters last week he’s heading to Nevada, Michigan and Ohio in early October. Republicans are optimistic about Ohio given the expected margin of victory there for former President Donald Trump.
Cornyn’s team cautioned that this isn’t the full list of his expected stops and sent along this statement:
The “hard dollars” part is especially relevant here. Cornyn stood up a joint fundraising committee after the 2020 cycle that he’s used to raise millions of dollars that get sent directly to candidates. In a letter to donors last month, Cornyn touted his cumulative fundraising numbers, which include his tenure as NRSC chair for two terms.
Barrasso: While Barrasso doesn’t have an opponent in the GOP whip race, the Wyoming Republican has remained active on the campaign trail.
Barrasso plans to attend debates in Michigan and Arizona to support Rogers and Lake, respectively. Barrasso is also expected to attend rallies and in-state fundraisers for Moreno as well as Nebraska Sens. Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts. Fischer is facing a surprising challenge from independent candidate Dan Osborn.
Barrasso will also campaign for Banks and McCormick, plus Eric Hovde, the GOP nominee in Wisconsin. On top of that, he’s expected to participate in Trump campaign events this month.
