Trent Lott Wins Back Leadership Spot

Senate Republicans selected Mississippi's Trent Lott to serve as minority whip, the No. 2 position in the chamber's GOP leadership, when Congress returns next year. In an election by secret ballot, fellow Republican senators chose Lott over Tennessee's Lamar Alexander for the post. Kentucky's Mitch McConnell, currently the deputy to retiring Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, was unopposed in the race for the top GOP leadership post. Fellow Republicans had ousted Lott from his majority leader post and replaced him with Frist in 2002 after Lott made comments that were regarded as racially insensitive.