Sen. Rick Scott, who is in a three-way race to succeed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, on Sunday called himself a "deal guy" who can bring people together in the chamber to pass legislation.
"We've got to get, for a lot of things, 60 votes in the Senate, so we've got to have somebody that's going to sit down with Democrats and say, How do we balance a budget? How do we do these things?" the Florida Republican told Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures." "That's all I've done. I'm a deal guy. That's what I did all my life."
He also touted his business expertise: "I built businesses all my life. I built the largest hospital company. I built a variety of manufacturing companies."
And as he has also been a governor, Scott said he "ran the state of Florida."
Scott is vying against Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. John Thune, S.D., for the job McConnell, R-Ky., has held since 2007.
He has been endorsed by GOP Sens, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Marco Rubio of Florida.
Scott is also widely seen as the closest ally to President-elect Donald Trump, which Hagerty pointed out while endorsing him Saturday.
"Any leader of this new majority must be able to work hand-in-hand with President Trump to advance his America First agenda," Hagerty posted on X. "That's why I want to see a Senate Majority Leader who can join me in embracing the Trump agenda, which will unify Senate Republicans. On Wednesday, I will be voting for Rick Scott."
Scott also mentioned his alignment with Trump, saying that "Washington ought to represent the Republican voters around the country."
"We have a mandate for change," said the Florida senator. "Who is going to represent all the Republican voters? I ran [against McConnell] two years ago because I knew we needed to make a change in the Senate.
"I've talked to my colleagues, I think everybody realizes we need to make a change. So the question is going to be, Who is going to make sure we get those things done?"
The secret ballot vote is scheduled for Wednesday. Incoming GOP Sens.-elect Bernie Moreno of Ohio, Tim Sheehy of Montana, and Jim Justice of West Virginia will be participating in the vote.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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