A group of Republican senators is pushing to postpone leadership elections after current Leader John Thune of South Dakota called for snap elections next week. Thune has indicated that he wants a second term in the role and favors holding the vote immediately.

A spokesperson for Thune confirmed that the senator intends to run for minority leader in the elections scheduled for the following Tuesday. No other Republican senator had publicly announced a challenge to Thune as of this report, although discontent within the Republican conference has surfaced.

Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin has gathered at least five signatures for a letter requesting a meeting of the Senate Republican Conference. The requested meeting would focus on whether the scheduled leadership vote should be delayed.

Conference rules allow five or more senators to force such a meeting through a written request. Senators who have indicated support for the letter include Mike Lee of Utah, Rick Scott of Florida, and John Kennedy of Louisiana.

Our supporters expected us to drain the swamp, but it seems like the swamp won. https://t.co/vnhujxBMKf

— Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) November 7, 2026

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Johnson has argued that Republican senators should review the election results before choosing their leadership team. He called for a robust discussion about what happened and described that review as a postmortem.

“You just can’t, ‘Oh, let’s elect this leadership team by acclimation.’ That’s unacceptable,” Johnson said during an appearance on the Clay & Buck Show.

The letter was directed to Senate Republican Conference Chairman Tom Cotton of Arkansas. Johnson and his colleagues described the election result as something that “was a stunning defeat” for Republicans and called for immediate changes.

“We need to have serious discussions within our conference as to what we can do to improve the outcome in 2028,” the senators stated.

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The letter also warned against proceeding with leadership elections before senators could evaluate the candidates and their plans. Its authors framed the rush toward a vote as a serious failure of the conference’s responsibilities.

“Holding leadership elections without engaging in a robust discussion and evaluation of how those running for leadership intend to lead would be political malpractice. It is certainly not the way leadership elections should be conducted in the world’s most deliberative body,” the letter continued.

Johnson has proposed using the already scheduled gathering for a broader conference discussion. Under his approach, leadership elections would be postponed “until we all have a chance to hear from leadership candidates as to what type of collaborative conference governing model we should adopt.”

Lee publicly endorsed Johnson’s push in a social media post. He said Republicans should first have enough time to discuss Tuesday’s results and determine who will be part of their conference.

“We have no business holding Senate Republican leadership elections until: (1) we’ve had ample opportunity to discuss what happened on Tuesday, and (2) we know who’s going to be in our conference,” Lee said.

Scott also said he would sign the letter, but made clear that he does not intend to seek the position himself after previously running in 2024. “I think we oughta be listeners,” the senator stated after saying he did not want to run again.

The leadership elections remain scheduled for Tuesday morning in the Old Senate Chamber. Republicans lost at least seven Senate seats in the midterms, while a small number of races remained uncalled when the discussions were taking place.

Johnson has acknowledged that he does not know whether the effort will succeed in postponing the vote. Even with five signatures triggering a conference meeting, the ultimate fate of the scheduled election remained uncertain.

Since 1934, leadership elections have occurred about 40 days after an election.

Since 2006, that timeline has shortened to just nine days. There’s no reason to rush a leadership election — especially after a defeat. https://t.co/ZIB0vnup5q — Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) November 7, 2026

The conference is also expected to consider other leadership positions during the process. Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming is seeking to retain the role of whip as Republicans weigh their leadership lineup.

What might have been a swift leadership vote is now facing organized resistance from senators demanding answers first. For Thune, the immediate challenge is no longer merely winning another term, but whether Tuesday’s election happens as planned.

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