JUST IN: CNN Anchor Floated To Replace Mitch McConnell

The road to a U.S. Senate seat is long, arduous, and sometimes unexpected to those who come to fill its seats. One potential contender to fill the seat being left behind by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) may never have thought about the prospect until now.

Allies are privately encouraging Scott Jennings, the combative and conservative CNN personality, to keep his options open for 2026, when Republicans will compete to replace the former U.S. Senate majority leader. McConnell last week announced he would not seek reelection, capping nearly five decades in elected office and his tenure as the longest-serving leader of a party’s Senate caucus in the nation’s history.

Sources close to Jennings told Fox News that he hasn’t ruled it out, while his supporters in the media are expressing their excitement about the possibility of a Senator Jennings.

“Could I nominate [Scott Jennings] for the United States Senate from the Commonwealth of Kentucky? He’d be a hell of a McConnell replacement,” conservative writer Erick Erickson wrote on X.

“I would absolutely support my friend [Scott Jennings] for U.S. Senate. But he’d also make a fine governor for the great state of Kentucky as well,” Republican strategist Dustin Grage posted.

In a statement announcing his retirement, Sen. McConnell, first elected in 1985, reflected on his legacy, which includes installing six of nine justices on the Supreme Court and a majority of Republican appointees in the U.S. Courts of Appeals.

“Seven times, my fellow Kentuckians have sent me to the Senate,” McConnell wrote. “Every day in between, I’ve been humbled by the trust they’ve placed in me to do their business here. Representing our commonwealth has been the honor of a lifetime. I will not seek this honor an eighth time. My current term in the Senate will be my last,” he added, according to the New York Post.

Deep-red Kentucky is about the friendliest territory Republicans can hope for when fighting to keep a seat, and the fertile electoral ground has already drawn interest. Former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has jumped into the race while GOP Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) is said to be mulling a bid.

Cook Political Report rates 2026 as a perilous cycle for Democrats and predicts the GOP to keep or build on its 53-seat majority. The opposition party is losing Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) to retirement, while freshman Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) is rated the most vulnerable incumbent of the cycle. On the other side, endangered Republican incumbents like Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) have demonstrated an outmatched ability to win multiple terms when facing off against well-funded challengers.

Jennings would immediately begin his race with name recognition from his time as a guest commentator on CNN. He frequently generates viral clips for sparring unapologetically with liberal colleagues who often lose their cool to the shine of his smile. His continual return is a sign that even the mainstream network’s producers can’t deny his telegenic charm.