CHARLESTON — Republicans in the U.S. Senate might not have retaken the majority after the midterm elections last week, but U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito was elected to the number five spot in Senate Republican leadership Wednesday.
Capito, R-W.Va., was elected by members of the U.S. Senate Republican caucus as vice chair of the Senate Republican Conference, which puts her on the leadership team of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who was elected to lead the caucus in a 37-10 vote.
“It sounds pretty good, I think,” Capito said in a press conference Wednesday afternoon. “I’m very honored to serve with all of our leadership here. I particularly want to say what an honor it will be to serve under the leadership of Mitch McConnell, my neighbor in neighboring Kentucky. I have a lot of admiration for his vision and look forward with carrying forward with that.”
McConnell was challenged for the minority leader role by U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., the head of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee. But Scott has come under fire for the losses of several Republican senate candidates after many political experts predicted the return to a Republican majority.
Some Republican senators also wanted to delay the leadership elections until after the Georgia U.S. Senate runoff election in December between U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., and former college football standout Hershel Walker, Warnock’s Republican opponent. But the leadership elections continued unabated. Capito said the incoming leadership team will take the concerns of the caucus seriously.
“The meeting we had was very interesting. It was very respectful,” Capito said. “We listened very attentively to the ideas and the desires of our members. After all, we’re elected. Our constituency was in that room … I want to say thank you to my colleagues for inspiring me and instilling me with confidence.”
Capito has steadily risen up the leadership ranks in the Republican caucus since she was first elected in 2014. She serves as the ranking Republican member of the Committee on Environment and Public Works. She also sits on the powerful Committee on Appropriations with U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.; and the Committee on Rules and Administration, one of the oldest committees in the Senate.
Capito recently played a role in what became the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. She spent the spring of 2021 negotiating with President Joe Biden and White House officials on the details of an infrastructure plan. While those negotiations ended in stalemate, much of what Capito negotiated made it into the final bill, which was signed into law one year ago Tuesday.
The Senate Republican Conference works to inform the press and the public about the public policy priorities of Senate Republicans, including issues at the southern border, inflation and energy prices, the economy, education, and debt and deficit.
“We’re going to have a unified message, a voice of which I will be participating in creating that message,” Capito said.