Mitch McConnell won’t seek reelection in 2026, ending long tenure as Republican power broker
Republican Senator Mitch McConnell is announcing he won't seek reelection next year, ending a decades-long tenure as a power broker who championed conservative causes but ultimately ceded ground to the fierce GOP populism of US President Donald Trump.
McConnell, the longest-serving Senate party leader in US history, chose his 83rd birthday to share his decision not to run for another term in Kentucky and to retire when his current term ends. He informed The Associated Press of his decision before he was set to address colleagues in a speech on the Senate floor on Thursday (Friday AEDT).
His announcement begins the epilogue of a storied career as a master strategist, one in which he helped forge a conservative Supreme Court and steered the Senate through tax cuts, presidential i...