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Capitol Lens | A Mitch in time

Photos from Roll Call’s archives of the Kentucky Republican

Mitch McConnell and his wife, Elaine Chao, address the Election Night crowd in Louisville, Ky., on Nov. 4, 2014, after the Kentucky Republican defeated Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes.
Mitch McConnell and his wife, Elaine Chao, address the Election Night crowd in Louisville, Ky., on Nov. 4, 2014, after the Kentucky Republican defeated Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
By Bill Clark, Tom Williams and Chris Hale
Posted February 20, 2025 at 3:04pm

Mitch McConnell, the longest-serving party leader in Senate history, will not seek reelection next year, the Kentucky Republican announced on the chamber floor Thursday.

Here are some of Roll Call’s more memorable archival photos of the GOP leader from the past 22 years.

A sign is installed on Jan. 3, 2003, for the office of the new Majority Whip McConnell. (Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call)
McConnell brandishes a musket on stage during the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, at National Harbor, Md., on March 6, 2014. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
Then-Vice President Joe Biden greets McConnell and Chao during a swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 6, 2015. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
McConnell taps the “Bourbon Barrel of Compromise” at an event at the Willard Hotel on Feb. 3, 2015. Also appearing are members of the Kentucky delegation, Republicans Andy Barr, second from left, and Thomas Massie, right, and Democrat John Yarmuth, center. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
President Donald Trump shakes hands with the majority leader after delivering an address to a joint session of Congress on Feb. 28, 2017. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
A protester throws Russian flags at McConnell and Trump in the Capitol on Oct. 24, 2017. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
Comedian Jon Stewart is seen in the Ohio Clock Corridor on July 11, 2019, as McConnell walks by. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
McConnell walks to the Senate chamber for a vote on Sept. 23, 2020. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
McConnell exits the Kennedy Caucus Room in the Capitol after Senate Republicans’ leadership election on Nov. 10, 2020. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
A masked McConnell arrives at the Capitol on Jan. 3, 2021, the first day of the 117th Congress. (Caroline Brehman/CQ Roll Call)
McConnell is seen on the House chamber floor late on Jan. 6, 2021, with Senate Democratic leader Charles E. Schumer during the joint session to certify the 2020 Electoral College votes, following the earlier attack on the Capitol. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
McConnell and his staff walk through the Capitol’s Ohio Clock Corridor on March 23, 2021. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, presents medals to Schumer, left, and McConnell during a ceremony in the Russell Senate Office Building on July 10, 2024. Also appearing in the back row are, from left, Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran and Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

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