WASHINGTON (AP) — In the first seriously contested Republican Senate leadership election in decades, three senators vying to replace veteran Republican leader Mitch McConnell when he leaves office early next year and Republicans take back the Senate majority.

South Dakota Sen. John Thune, Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Florida Sen. Rick Scott have been campaigning furiously to win the support of their colleagues in Wednesday’s secret ballot elections. The three are trying to convince their colleagues that they have the President-elect Donald Trump’s ear and will be the best person to implement your agenda.

They are also trying to differentiate themselves from McConnell, saying they will give rank-and-file senators more power and be more forthcoming.

It is unclear who will win or if there will be several rounds of voting before a winner is chosen.

A look at the three candidates:

SEN. JOHN TUNE

Thune, 63, defeated then-Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle in 2004 after arguing during the campaign that Daschle had lost his South Dakota roots during his years in Democratic leadership. Now Thune is running to become majority leader himself.

Thune, a well-liked and respected communicator, has been perceived as a front-runner for much of the year. He is currently the No. 2 Republican in the Senate and filled in for McConnell for a few weeks last year when he was on medical leave. He is also the former chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.

As he prepared to run for leader, Thune spent much of the year campaigning for his colleagues. According to aides, he raised more than $31 million to elect Senate Republicans this cycle, including a transfer of $4 million from his own campaign accounts to the Senate’s main campaign arm.

One possible liability for Thune has been his previously rocky relationship with Trump. Thune was highly critical of the then-president as he attempted to overturn his 2020 election loss and after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters. Thune then said Trump’s efforts to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power were “inexcusable.”

This year, however, Thune and Trump have spoken frequently by phone, and Thune visited the then-Republican candidate at his home in Florida. Thune he told the associated press during the summer he sees their relationship potential as a professional. If both win the election, Thune said, “we have work to do.”

SEN. JOHN CORNY

Like Thune, Cornyn is a popular and respected member of the Senate Republican conference. A former Texas attorney general and member of the state Supreme Court, much of his work has been done on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He was also McConnell’s number two, the position now held by Thune, for six years before he was temporarily out of office.

Cornyn, 72, also spent much of the year courting his colleagues one by one and raising funds for them across the country. He has long been one of the top fundraisers in the Senate, and aides say he has raised more than $400 million for party candidates during his 22 years in office.

In 2022, after a gunman stormed a Texas elementary school and killed 19 children and two teacherscornyn was taken advantage of by McConnell lead the Republican Party in negotiating gun legislation with Democrats. the invoice, That summer passedstepped up background checks on buyers under 21, increased prosecutions for unlicensed gun sellers and directed millions of dollars to mental health services for youth. While Cornyn has touted his work on the gun bill, it could cost him some votes among more conservative members of the conference.

Cornyn also had some past tensions with Trump, including his early suggestions that Trump might not be the best Republican candidate to run in 2024. But he has also softened relations with the incoming president, meeting with him when he was in Texas to campaign. and visiting him in Florida.

SEN. RICK SCOTT

While Thune and Cornyn have leadership experience and have spent most of the year methodically trying to court individual senators, Scott is running a different kind of campaign. And he believes he has a clear advantage: his relationship with Trump.

Scott, a former two-term governor of Florida and a successful businessman, was re-elected for a second term in the Senate last week, beating Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell by more than 10 points. He has long supported the incoming president and has positioned himself as a strong ally. Scott traveled to new york to support Trump during Trump’s presidency silent money test earlier this year, and has openly said he wants Trump to endorse him.

He gained an outpouring of support on social media over the weekend as he received endorsements from people close to Trump, including Elon Musk. But Trump has not intervened in the Senate race.

It’s unclear whether Scott’s outward approach could win him more support in the Senate. He earned 10 votes when he challenged McConnell for the seat in 2022, and he will aim to improve on that tally in Wednesday’s first round of voting.

Scott, 71, is part of a growing group of far-right senators who have criticized McConnell’s tenure and advocated for more power for individual members. Several senators from that group, including Utah Sen. Mike Lee and Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, have endorsed him, arguing that his business experience and relationship with Trump should put him over the top.

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