Trent Lott, ousted as Republican leader in the Senate four years ago after a racially insensitive comment, was elected to the number-two spot in his party’s Senate leadership on Wednesday.

The remarkable comeback of the affable Mississippian showed Republicans drawn to an experienced leader – and a master of the Senate’s arcane rules – as they reckoned with their losses in last week’s mid-term elections and prepared for life as the minority party.