Republican Senate candidates Joni Ernst and David Perdue have not committed to support Sen. Mitch McConnell for majority leader if they are elected and the GOP takes over the upper house, but Mitt Romney thinks they'll change their tune if a Republican wave hits on Tuesday.
"I can't begin to survey all the Republicans in the Senate to know where they all line up behind leadership," the 2012 presidential nominee said Monday on Fox News Channel's
"Your World with Neil Cavuto."
"I expect that if we see a very successful Tuesday night and you see Republicans picking up a lot of seats — even not just a majority, but any more than just a majority — that people will have to tip their hand and say, 'Wow, Mitch McConnell did quite a job in helping organize a lot of this,'" Romney said. "But, you know, that's for them to decide."
Ernst, seeking an open Senate seat in Iowa, told Cavuto on Saturday she's still focused on winning her tight race with Democrat Bruce Braley.
"I'm going to have to talk with a number of people, hear what their stances on the issues are. Right now it is about winning Iowa," Ernst said.
Purdue, seeking Sen. Saxby Chambliss' open seat in Georgia, gave
NBC News a similar answer, saying, "my first job is to make sure that Harry Reid isn’t the Majority Leader." He said he isn't even sure yet how the process of electing a leader takes place.
Purdue's Democratic opponent, Michelle Nunn, has similarly hedged on whether she would vote for current Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Tea party leader Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, a frequent critic of the GOP "establishment," declined to say
in an interview published Sunday in The New York Times whether he would vote for McConnell.
Republican Thom Tillis, who is seeking to unseat Democratic North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan, told Cavuto on Monday, "I would vote for Leader McConnell," saying experienced leadership is needed so Republicans can immediately "get to work" on their agenda.
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