Mitch McConnell

Addison Mitchell McConnell III (born February 20, 1942) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he has served since 1985 as a United States senator from Kentucky, and since January 20, 2021, as Senate Minority Leader. He previously served as Senate Majority Leader from 2015 to 2021, and as Minority Leader from 2007 to 2015. He is married to former secretary of transportation and former secretary of labor Elaine Chao. McConnell was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1984 and is the second Kentuckian to serve as a party leader in the Senate. During the 1998 and 2000 election cycles, he was chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. He was elected Majority Whip in the 108th Congress and re-elected to the post in 2004. In November 2006 he was elected Senate Minority Leader – the post he held until Republicans took control of the Senate in 2015. McConnell holds conservative political positions, although he was known as a pragmatist and a moderate Republican early in his political career. He led opposition to stricter campaign finance laws, culminating in the Supreme Court ruling Citizens United v.