<p>Senate Republicans voted Wednesday to elect Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) as their leader over National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman&nbsp;<a class="person-popover__link" href="https://thehill.com/people/rick-scott/" _mce_href="https://thehill.com/people/rick-scott/">Rick Scott&nbsp;</a>(R-Fla.), who announced his desire to replace McConnell at an acrimonious conference meeting Tuesday.</p> <p>A large majority of&nbsp;GOP senators voted to elect McConnell leader after a&nbsp;motion backed by Sen.&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://thehill.com/people/ted-cruz/" _mce_href="https://thehill.com/people/ted-cruz/" target="_blank">Ted Cruz&nbsp;</a>(R-Texas) and other conservatives to&nbsp;delay the leadership election until after the&nbsp;Dec. 6&nbsp;Georgia Senate runoff failed.</p> <p>McConnell received 37 votes while Scott received 10 votes. One senator voted present. &nbsp;</p> <p>“We collectively, I think, had a good discussion about what happened in the election and what happens in the next election,” McConnell said after a more than three-hour meeting of the Senate Republican Conference in the Old Senate Chamber. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue to serve.”&nbsp;</p> <p>Scott’s last-minute challenge to McConnell represented the toughest competition the senior Republican senator has faced for the top leadership job since he became Senate minority leader in 2007.</p> <p>Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Senate Republican Conference Chairman&nbsp;<a class="person-popover__link" href="https://thehill.com/people/john-barrasso/" _mce_href="https://thehill.com/people/john-barrasso/">John Barrasso&nbsp;</a>(R-Wyo.) nominated McConnell to serve another two years as GOP leader.&nbsp;</p>