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updated 10:26 AM EST, Fri November 7, 2014

Washington (CNN) -- Sen. Mitch McConnell just put one election behind him that is expected to sweep him into the position of Senate majority leader, but he already knows who he'd back in 2016 if he decides to run: fellow Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul.

"I don't think he's made a final decision on that. But he'll be able to count on me," McConnell said of Paul's presidential prospects in an interview with the Lexington Herald-Leader published Thursday.

McConnell, who called himself a "big supporter of Rand Paul" said the pair have "developed a very tight relationship."

"And I'm for him," McConnell said. "Whatever he decides to do."

That's despite the fact that other members of McConnell's new majority are considering presidential bids, including Sens. Ted Cruz, Rob Portman and Marco Rubio.

Who got a 2016 boost from midterms?

But McConnell and Paul have become close, with Paul campaigning with McConnell to stave off the Senate minority leader's Democratic challenge from Alison Lundergan Grimes. And the pair spent Election Night together in Kentucky.

McConnell and Paul have come a long way since 2010, when McConnell backed his primary opponent, a mistake he said he wished he could "do over again."

"I've learned my lesson there," McConnell said. "That clearly was a mistake. We all make them, and that's one if I had to do over again I would."

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McConnell: Rand Paul can 'count on me' for 2016