Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), one of President-elect Trump’s closest allies in the Senate, has been knocked out of the race to elect the next Senate majority leader after the first round of voting, according to two sources familiar with the early results.
Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) won the first round of secret balloting, collecting 23 votes.
His chief rival, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), collected 15 votes, finishing in second place after the first round.
Scott just missed advancing to a runoff, winning 13 votes.
A source familiar with the proceedings said a motion was made to delay the final vote on electing the new Senate majority leader by two hours, but it failed.
