Senate Republican hopefuls including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Trump-backed Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA), and Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming either did not respond to requests for comment or declined to stake out a position. Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) confirmed they will back Thune.

And in the open Kentucky race to succeed retiring former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Trump-endorsed Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) will also support Thune, according to his campaign. Barr’s rival, former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, did not respond.

Primary opponents vowing to shake up Washington could do more damage taking a favorable stance for Thune than leaving Republican voters wondering where they stand when they soon head to the ballot box. And in Paxton’s case, he’ll want leadership’s help to prevail over Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico in the general if he beats Cornyn in an upcoming runoff.

Jason Roe, a veteran Republican strategist who worked for the presidential campaigns of Mitt Romney and Marco Rubio, said, “I don’t think Thune draws any particular ire from the base.”

“When they’re the outsider running against the establishment, hugging the leader of the Senate establishment kind of undercuts your message,” Roe said. “It’s better just to punt and leave that to people’s imaginations.”

Thune enjoys broad support from his members and has faced minimal criticism since taking over as leader in January 2025, even from conservatives who want to nuke the filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act, the GOP’s voter ID bill. Thune has steadfastly resisted the drive to further weaken the Senate’s 60-vote threshold over a lack of GOP support and received periodic blowback from Trump. Still, the two maintain a close and effective working relationship.

The Louisiana Senate primary is May 16, while Kentucky’s is May 19. Early voting is already underway in Louisiana and starts Monday in Kentucky. In Texas, the Cornyn-Paxton runoff is May 26, and early voting begins May 18.

“Right now, I’m focused on my re-election campaign so I can continue delivering results for Louisiana,” Cassidy said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “I supported Leader Thune previously, and I plan to support him again.”

Fleming said in a text message that he was “not taking a position on that issue.” Letlow did not respond to a request for comment.

Cornyn, who ran against Thune for leader in late 2024, “supports Senator Thune continuing to serve as leader,” his office said. Paxton did not respond.

Thune and the Senate GOP’s broader campaign apparatus in Washington are firmly behind Cornyn and Cassidy, despite Trump endorsing Letlow to oust Cassidy. Trump has so far stayed neutral in Texas between Cornyn and Paxton. Thune and GOP leadership are aligned in Kentucky with their support for Barr over Cameron.

Thune would not need the support of Letlow, Paxton, or Cameron, but both parties seek to begin new Congresses on a united front within their caucuses. A unanimous vote for leader presents the ultimate show of party unity.

Navigating the SAVE Act and the filibuster

In his latest remarks on the filibuster and the SAVE Act, Trump said Tuesday he was “disappointed” with inaction from Thune but quickly pivoted the blame to other unnamed GOP senators.

“I like John a lot, but he has a couple Republicans that are foolish people,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “A couple of them I don’t like. A couple of them I can’t stand, actually, if you want to know the truth.”

The House-passed proposal would require proof of citizenship for voter registration and a federal standard for presenting IDs at polling locations, among other things.

“We should have the SAVE America Act,” Trump said. “We should have voter identification, voter ID. We should have proof of citizenship. We should have mail-in voting for the military and people that need it, but not for everybody, because anytime you have mail-in voting, they’re going to cheat. And they cheat like dogs, and they have to cheat.”

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), often a thorn in leadership’s side and another who is a strong advocate of the SAVE Act and against the filibuster, has gone to bat for Thune against those on social media who say he should be replaced. Lee considers the notion unrealistic on procedural grounds and the reality that “Senator Thune is beloved by colleagues and very popular within the conference.”

Trump is also keeping his powder dry in battleground Georgia, where Republicans have yet to coalesce around any of the three leading candidates to take on Democrats’ most vulnerable incumbent, Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA).

One of those contenders, Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA), will back Thune, according to his campaign. Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) and former football coach Derek Dooley did not respond to inquiries.

Louisiana and Kentucky are safe Republican seats, leaving the nominees almost certain to sail to victory in the November general election. But Texas presents a long-shot opportunity for Democrats with Talarico, a state representative, and Georgia will be one of the most hotly contested Senate races in the country.

Thune may not be facing problems regarding sitting senators. But the political arm of Turning Point USA, the group founded by the late Charlie Kirk to influence young conservatives, has signaled it might support a Thune primary challenger if the SAVE Act isn’t passed. Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who ran against Thune and Cornyn for leader in 2024, has been touted as a potential replacement by the activist group’s political arm known as Turning Point Action.

It was among the organizations that helped Trump oust several Republican Indiana state senators in their recent primaries after they blocked the president’s bid to redraw the state’s congressional map.

“America needs the Save America Act passed,” Turning Point Action COO Tyler Bowyer told the Washington Examiner. “Rick Scott should be in charge.”

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However, Scott has also declined to place blame on Thune, as the bill’s proponents outside the Senate have done, including Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) and conservative influencers online such as Scott Presler. Rick Scott is adamant that persistent public pressure would make further consideration of the measure inescapable.

“I take leadership with their word that they were — they’re going to — put the effort into trying to get it passed,” Presler recently told the Washington Examiner. “I’m going to keep working on it.”

Samantha-Jo Roth contributed to this report.