The longest-serving Senate party leader in U.S. history, former Senate Republican Leader and Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell announced Thursday he will not be seeking re-election in 2026 — ending his run before a push on an eighth term.
And on his birthday, no less — a time he called “as good a day as any” to share a decision he made last year.
Seven times, Kentuckians sent McConnell to and from the Senate, where he was trusted to do the business of the Commonwealth — and, later, the nation.
McConnell called it “the honor of a lifetime.”
McConnell made headlines not even a week ago, and not just because of his rumored health concerns.
He was the lone Republican “nay” vote in the confirmation of former Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard as the nation’s director of intelligence under President Donald J. Trump.
Among his accomplishments, McConnell played a pivotal — albeit controversial — role in securing the confirmation of three U.S. Supreme Court justices: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Cavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, and his decision to block Merrick Garland’s 2016 nomination, and expedite Coney Barrett’s in 2020, brought major attention.
A major author of the Land Between the Lakes Recreation and Heritage Act alongside Congressman James Comer, impacting west Kentucky, McConnell was also instrumental in the passage of The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, as well as The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.
He has long rebuked the amount of money spent in the post-COVID bill, known as the American Rescue Plan Act, because of inflationary concerns, and has long defended a strong military, the country’s involvement in global affairs, and the recent U.S. support of Ukraine in the wake of Russian invasion and oppression.
First elected in 1984 and taking office in 1985, he twice served as Senate Minority Leader from 2007 until 2015 and from 2021 until 2025, and served as Senate Majority Leader from 2015 until 2021.
