Senator Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) has revealed his strategy to win back the Senate in 2024, focusing on candidate quality to avoid a repeat of 2022.
Though the Senate map next year is more favorable to Republicans than in most cycles, McConnell aims not to leave anything to chance. In an interview with CNN, the Senate minority leader explained: “We do have the possibility of screwing this up and that gets back to candidate recruitment. I think that we lost Georgia, Arizona, and New Hampshire because we didn’t have competitive candidates” in the last cycle. “Steve Daines [R., Mont.] and I are in exactly the same place – that starts with candidate quality.”
McConnell explained that he, along with the Senate Leadership Fund and the Daines-helmed National Republican Senatorial Committee, will take an active role in primaries throughout the country. “We’ll be involved in any primary where that seems to be necessary to get a high-quality candidate, and we’ll be involved in every general election where we have a legitimate shot of winning — regardless of the philosophy of the nominee,” McConnell said.
This marks a departure from the last cycle when the National Republican Senatorial Committee, then helmed by Senator Rick Scott (R., Fla.), decided to steer clear of intervening in the primaries, arguing they would let voters choose their candidates.
The Senate minority leader said he will focus on flipping four states: Montana, West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. He added that Republicans are still assessing two swing states with Democratic incumbents: Wisconsin and Nevada. The GOP is still searching for a top candidate in the former, and McConnell said he is likely to wait until after next year’s primary to decide whether to invest resources in the latter. The minority leader also anticipates he’ll pursue a wait-and-see approach in Arizona, where Kyrsten Sinema, the incumbent, will run for reelection as an independent. “We would love to have had her, but we didn’t land her,” explained McConnell to CNN, referring to Sinema’s decision to drop her Democratic Party affiliation.
In West Virginia, McConnell and his allies have coalesced around popular West Virginia governor Jim Justice, who switched his affiliation from Democratic to Republican in 2017. Justice is already facing a challenge from Representative Alex Mooney (R., W.Va.) in his attempt to unseat incumbent Senator Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.). While Mooney has attracted support from politicians like Senator Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and organizations like the Club for Growth, McConnell told CNN he won’t hesitate to get involved to help Justice.
In Pennsylvania, McConnell and Daines have their eyes on David McCormick, who fell short to TV personality Mehmet Oz in the last Republican primary. McConnell called McCormick a “high-quality candidate,” but avoided answering another question on whether he was worried about a bid from Doug Mastriano, who lost the gubernatorial race in the last cycle.
The Senate minority leader demurred from singling out a preferred candidate in Ohio and Montana. He also declined to comment on any controversial candidates that may emerge this time around, avoiding a question about Kari Lake, who lost the Arizona gubernatorial race in the last cycle and may challenge Sinema in the next one.
On the other hand, McConnell expressed confidence that Democrats have little chance on the offense, including in Florida where Scott is running and in Texas where Cruz is running. The Senate minority leader said bids to unseat them are “really long shots.”