Republican Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona is not seeking reelection. He is currently the Minority Whip of the Senate, which means he holds the second highest position among Republicans in the higher chamber. His retirement creates a vacancy in the Republican leadership, which would naturally be filled by the next in line. That happens to be Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, who currently serves as the Senate Republican Conference chairman. But, surprisingly, Sen. Alexander announced that he not only will not seek the job of Minority (or, potentially, Majority) Whip, he won’t stand for any leadership position in the next Congress. He says that he just wants to go back to being a regular senator and to work on cutting deals. But he may have realized that he’d lose out in his bid for a promotion to National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) chairman Sen. John Cornyn of Texas.
Sen. Cornyn presided over a successful 2010 campaign which saw the Republican severely whittle down the Democrats’ advantage in the Senate, and he is heading their Senate campaign again in next year’s cycle. So, he has a lot of built-up support. But he’s also a lot more conservative than Alexander. With Alexander’s decision, Cornyn is almost assured of becoming the GOP’s Number Two, and he will be instantly pencilled in as Mitch McConnell’s heir-apparent. Before too long, we could be looking at a Majority Leader Cornyn. Are you ready for that?
