Could Mitch McConnell be eyeing his exit from politics? Not so fast…

Kentucky just passed a vacancy law that requires the governor of Kentucky to temporarily fill a vacant Senate seat with a successor of the same political party as the departing lawmaker. McConnell’s public support for the bill has raised a lot of eyebrows causing people to question if he’s considering retirement soon. However, the top Republican isn’t ready to lose his title as Senate Leader just yet saying “I’m not going anywhere” after the legislation successfully passed.

The Hill reports:

“I don’t think we’re going to have a vacancy. I’m not going anywhere. I just got elected to a six-year term. And I’m still the leader of my party in the Senate,” McConnell said.

“But I had watched this over the years in the Senate as various vacancies were filled and I thought this was the best way to go,” he said.

The Republican-controlled Kentucky legislature overrode Democrat Governor Andy Beshear’s veto.

McConnell, speaking to reporters in Kentucky on Tuesday, said that he would have supported the bill even if Kentucky currently had a GOP governor.

“The goal here, that I support … was if such a vacancy were to occur to have the people as quickly as possible elect the new senator. And in the interim, honor the results of the last election,” McConnell said.

McConnell became Kentucky’s longest-serving senator in 2020 and the longest-serving Senate GOP leader in 2018. If he stays in office into 2023 he will break Mike Mansfield’s record as the longest-serving Senate leader of all time.