Senate Republicans are scheduled to meet on November 10 to elect their leaders for the upcoming Congress - just one week after losing their majority in the midterm elections. But some Republicans want to postpone the election to give their colleagues more time to consider how they should respond to last week's results. To that end, Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Mike Lee, R-Utah, Ted Budd, R-N.C., Rick Scott, R-Fla., and John Kennedy, R-La., have called for a party meeting to discuss the election's implications before Republicans select their leaders.
Senate Republican Leadership Positions
Senate Republicans elect six party leaders every two years: Floor Leader, Assistant Leader (Whip), Conference Chairman, Conference Vice Chairman, Policy Committee Chairman, and National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chairman. The Floor Leader directs the party's legislative strategy and manages its activities on the Senate floor, while the Whip coordinates the party’s vote efforts and assists the Floor Leader with floor management. The Conference Chairman presides over party meetings and oversees communications, with help from the Conference Vice Chairman. The Policy Committee Chairman oversees legislative and policy analysis. And the NRSC Chairman directs the party's fundraising and campaign efforts.
The responsibilities associated with these positions - and the positions themselves - have changed considerably over time.
The Evolution of Republican Leadership
Republicans created leadership positions and assigned them responsibilities in response to changing political circumstances. For example, Republicans first elected a Conference Chairman in 1859, selecting John Parker Hale of New Hampshire. Republicans strengthened the position in 1912 after losing the majority (the first time in two decades) by designating Conference Chairman Jacob Gallinger of New Hampshire as their informal floor leader. They created a Whip position in 1915 to coordinate their members' votes. (Republicans temporarily abandoned it during the 1930s after successive electoral defeats reduced their ranks and made formal coordination less necessary.)
Republicans also reconsidered how they selected their leaders. In 1925, they departed from their traditional reliance on seniority to elect Charles Curtis of Kansas because they thought he would be more effective in the role. In 1945, they separated the Conference Chairman and Floor Leader positions, electing Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan and Wallace White of Maine, respectively. The Policy Committee was created in 1946, and Republicans elected Robert Taft of Ohio as its first chairman, and added the NRSC chairmanship to their elected leadership in 1980.
When Senate Republicans Have Elected Their Leaders
The timing of Republican leadership elections has also changed. In recent years, Senate Republicans have elected their leaders shortly after the general election. However, they generally waited until the new Congress convened historically.
The Senate Republican Conference Rules stipulate that the party shall hold a conference meeting at the beginning of each Congress, or within one week thereafter, to elect its leaders. Since the 1933 ratification of the Twentieth Amendment, Congress convenes on January 3 of odd-numbered years. The GOP Conference Rules' timetable therefore places leadership elections between January 3 and January 10, approximately two months after the preceding general election.
Republicans generally followed that schedule for much of the twentieth century. They elected Howard Baker of Tennessee their leader on January 3, 1977, when the 95th Congress began. Two years later, Republicans held leadership elections on January 15, 1979.
That practice changed beginning in 1980, when Republicans met to elect their leaders before the new Congress convened in January. They subsequently held leadership elections on December 2, 1982, and November 28, 1984, Republicans continued to schedule their leadership elections to occur closer to Election Day. By November 10, 1992, the party was holding leadership elections just one week after the general election.
The shift is especially apparent in recent years. Between 1984 and 1992, the five documented regular Republican leadership elections occurred, on average, 14.4 days after the general election. The interval ranged from seven days in 1990 and 1992 to 22 days in 1984. Since 2016, Republicans have consistently held leadership elections within eight days of the general election, averaging 7.8 days during that period. This year's effort to hold a leadership election one week after the midterm elections continues that trend.
Explaining the Shift in Election Timing
The shift toward earlier leadership elections began as Senate Republicans confronted internal disagreements over their leadership. After the 1980 election - when Republicans won a Senate majority for the first time in 26 years - the party began holding leadership elections before the new Congress convened. That election strengthened the GOP’s conservative wing, which questioned whether the moderate Howard Baker, R-Tenn., should continue as the party’s Floor Leader. Baker responded by moving quickly to consolidate support. Immediately after Election Day, he announced that at least 40 Republican senators had committed to supporting him and that Paul Laxalt, R-Nev., (president-elect Ronald Reagan's campaign chairman) would nominate him. Baker was elected shortly thereafter.
Holding leadership elections shortly after the general election gave Baker’s Republican critics less time to assess election results, recruit alternative candidates, and organize opposition to his bid for another term as Floor Leader. Since then, holding elections shortly after the general election has allowed incumbent leaders to quickly secure another term before dissatisfied members can mobilize around the party's electoral performance.
The Takeaway
Senate Republicans have repeatedly changed how they organize themselves in response to changing political circumstances. Their leadership structure emerged gradually as the party reflected on election results. The timing of GOP leadership elections has also changed. The current practice of electing leaders shortly after Election Day replaced the party’s earlier practice - spelled out in its conference rules - of waiting until the new Congress convened. Republican leaders scheduled elections earlier primarily to make it harder for potential opponents to challenge them.