Sen. Ron Johnson said he will walk out of Tuesday’s closed-door Republican leadership elections if party leaders press ahead without first examining the GOP’s midterm losses, according to comments he gave to the Washington Examiner, as reported by the Gateway Pundit.
“If you hold the election, I’ll leave the room,” Johnson said, per the Examiner, as cited by the Gateway Pundit. He also called the rush to hold leadership elections “obnoxious,” according to the same report.
Letter demanding delay
The Gateway Pundit reports Johnson sent a letter Monday to Senate Republican Conference Chairman Tom Cotton seeking a postponement of leadership elections. The outlet says the letter was co-signed by Sens. Mike Lee, Rick Scott, Ted Budd, and John Kennedy, and that the five signatures met the conference’s threshold to request a meeting.
The senators’ letter warned: “Holding leadership elections without engaging in a robust discussion and evaluation of how those running for leadership intend to lead would be political malpractice,” according to the Gateway Pundit’s account. The site adds that the group called for a substantive review of what went wrong and a strategy for the 2028 elections before any vote.
What’s at stake Tuesday
According to the Gateway Pundit, the leadership vote was scheduled for Tuesday, November 10, at 9 a.m., and Johnson and his allies want that time used for a full conference discussion instead of immediately proceeding to elections.
Midterm backdrop and leadership
The Gateway Pundit writes that Democrats secured at least 54 Senate seats in last week’s elections and that several Republican incumbents were defeated. The outlet also says Sen. John Thune (R-SD) is preparing to seek another term as Republican leader.
What we have not confirmed
This article relies on the Gateway Pundit’s reporting and its citation of an interview in the Washington Examiner. We have not independently verified the reported letter, the exact meeting schedule, the Senate seat tally, or additional context surrounding Johnson’s remarks.
