WASHINGTON — Sen. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma City) was elected Vice Chairman of the Republican Conference during Wednesday’s leadership elections.

“Our task is going to be very simple, to defend our values, to be able to strengthen us as a nation and bring prosperity to people that are really struggling right now,” Lankford said at a press conference after the leadership election. “The American people have spoken and said we do not like the direction that the country is going.”

During the same election, Senate Republicans voted for John Thune (R-South Dakota) to take Mitch McConnell’s (R-Kentucky) position as the Leader of the Senate Republican Conference and Senate Majority Leader in the 119th Congress.

While the ballots are secret, Senators James Lankford (R-Oklahoma City) and Markwayne Mullin (R-Westville) both made endorsements for Majority Leader.

At the beginning of the Senate Republican leadership election, Lankford, alongside Senator Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), gave the nominating speech for Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) during the leadership election. He had not previously endorsed any of the three candidates for the position.

“Several of us have had conversations with President Trump about not weighing in on the race. And this is me: I don’t think it’s worth the president using the political capital that he has to weigh in on the race,” said Mullin who endorsed Thune.

Mullin is reportedly under consideration to join President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet as either Secretary of Interior or Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

Why it matters: The Senate Majority Leader controls the debate and vote schedule, and guides the legislative agenda. Vice chair is fifth in the conference hierarchy.

• Since 2007, McConnell has served as the Leader of the Republican Conference. The new leader takes over after almost two decades of McConnell’s tight-fisted leadership.
• During a candidate forum, Thune promised to give senators more time to amend bills.
• He also promised to hold regular meetings with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and Vice President elect JD Vance to ensure coordination in advancing Trumps agenda.
• Lankford is the first Senator from Oklahoma in over two decades to serve on the Senate Republican leadership team. The last was Don Nickles who served as whip.

Three-way fight: The leadership race was originally between Thune and Cornyn before Senator Rick Scott (R-Florida) entered the race.

• Scott, a close ally of Trump’s, entered the leadership race following a public pressure campaign led by Elon Musk. He was eliminated from contention after the first round of voting.
• Despite Scott’s relationship with Trump, Axios reported that Trump signaled to allies that he did not see him as a legitimate contender for leadership.
• During his candidacy, Thune faced criticism from conservative pundits and Trump allies, such as Tucker Carlson.
• Cornyn, a former whip wrote a letter to colleagues making his case for leader. In it he wrote that to make America great again, they must make the Senate great again.

Kevin Eagleson is reporting from Gaylord News’ Washington bureau this fall as part of an OU Daily scholarship.

Gaylord News is a reporting project of the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication. For more stories by Gaylord News go to GaylordNews.net