We are now six days removed from the 2024 election. Louisiana overwhelmingly voted for President-elect Donald Trump–giving Trump 60% of the vote in Louisiana.
Despite Louisiana voters getting behind the “America First” agenda, our state still has a ways to go in terms of electing more Louisiana First candidates to public office. Louisiana voters have experienced some disappointing results over the past few years from Louisiana’s two US Senators–Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy. Both Senators have taken up positions that are highly contrary to the interests of Louisiana residents. In 2021, Senator Cassidy supported Joe Biden’s massive, pork-filled infrastructure bill (over one trillion dollars). Then in 2023, Senator Kennedy voiced support for the Biden administration sending $100+ billion in foreign aid to the corrupt regime running Ukraine.
With US Senate Republicans set to take back a majority in the US Senate following the 2024 election, Kennedy and Cassidy will join their Senate Republican counterparts in electing a new Senate Majority leader. Over the summer, longtime RINO Senator Mitch McConnell decided to step down from Senate leadership for the next Congress. Therefore, GOP Senators will have the opportunity to elect a new Majority leader.
According to most media reports, there are three primary contenders for Senate Majority leader: Rick Scott of Florida, John Cornyn of Texas, and John Thune of South Dakota.
If you know anything about these three Senators, Rick Scott is the only one who is a reliably conservative/MAGA vote in the US Senate. Cornyn and Thune hold longtime records as establishment Republicans.
For example, both Thune and Cornyn have repeatedly bashed President Trump and his supporters over the past eight years–even as recently as this year. Many of the top figures in the MAGA/conservative media sphere, such as Charlie Kirk and Tucker Carlson, have recently pointed out both Thune’s and Cornyn’s checkered pasts.
Besides their words, Thune and Cornyn do not have solid voting records to stand on. Turning Point Action COO Tyler Bowyer shared Thune’s and Cornyn’s mediocre voting records via Turning Point Action’s comprehensive scorecard. Unsurprisingly, Senator Scott holds a much more conservative voting record than either Thune or Cornyn.
Republican voters do not want either Thune or Cornyn in charge of the Senate GOP. Countless Republicans online have voiced their dissatisfaction with Thune and Cornyn. In fact, over one million users on X voted in Elon Musk’s poll for Senate Majority leader and overwhelmingly supported Rick Scott (~65.5%).
As of this writing, neither Cassidy or Kennedy has publicly endorsed a candidate for Senate Majority leader. Even worse, a leaked whip count from inside the Senate GOP circulated on X and revealed that NEITHER Cassidy or Kennedy plans to support Rick Scott for Senate Majority leader.
Now, there are still two days until Republican Senators select the next US Senate Majority leader via a secret ballot. So some US Senators may switch up their votes for Senate Majority leader between now and Wednesday. Cassidy and Kennedy could vote differently than what reports are saying, but we cannot know unless they publicly announce who they’re supporting.
For the sake of transparency, Louisiana voters deserve to know whom their Senators are supporting for Senate Majority leader. We need to know where our elected officials stand when it comes to the trajectory of Senate Republican leadership. The people of Louisiana deserve better than backroom deals and secret votes from our elected officials, and Cassidy and Kennedy know that.
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Nathan Koenig is a frequent contributor to RVIVR.com , a national conservative political site affiliated with The Hayride. Follow his writing on the Louisiana First Standard Substack, on Twitter (X) @LAFirstStandard, on Tik Tok @la.first.standard & on Instagram @lafirststandard. Email him here: louisianafirststandard@proton.me