Senate Republicans to choose new leader as Mitch McConnell steps down

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans will meet behind closed doors Wednesday to elect a new leader, capping a battle that has divided the party and pitted a candidate backed by vocal MAGA allies of President-elect Donald Trump against two long-serving senators with institutional knowledge and deep relationships in the body.

The three-way race features Sens. John Thune of South Dakota, the current whip; John Cornyn of Texas, a former whip; and Rick Scott of Florida, an underdog candidate who just won a second term. Senate Republicans held a candidate forum Tuesday evening after Congress returned from a lengthy recess.

The secret ballot election is set for Wednesday morning; incumbent and newly elected senators will be able to vote, and it's unclear who will win. Only a handful of members have said how they'll vote, with most holding their cards close to the vest. If nobody gets a majority on the first ballot, the lowest vote-getter will be eliminated and the top two will face off in a second ballot.

The winner will be majority leader for the next two years after Republicans won control of the Senate in the elections. The victor will replace Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who is stepping down from party leadership after an 18-year tenure that made him the longest-serving leader in Senate history.

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Thune and Cornyn, who were first elected during George W. Bush’s presidency, hail from an institutionalist wing of the GOP and have climbed their way up the ladder. Both have long-standing relationships within the conference and can claim to be next in line, with each having served as the No. 2 Republican for six years.

Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-S.D., said he's voting for Thune but admitted there's "very little" difference between him and Cornyn. "Although Cornyn told me yesterday ... people are saying they're a mirror image of each other. To which I say, I think John Thune would take offense to that," Cramer said.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., a Trump ally who is backing Thune, said, "I think at the end of the day, Thune still wins."

Thune, for his part, said after the meeting, "We feel good about where we’re at, but you never know until the voters vote."

Colleagues see Scott, first elected in 2018, as a more divisive figure, and he has been a vocal critic of McConnell for years. He has aligned himself solidly with the party's MAGA wing and secured some endorsements for the job from Trump allies, including right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson, billionaire benefactor Elon Musk and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.

"I think I’m uniquely positioned to really help get the Trump agenda done. ... I’m optimistic I’m going to win. I’m talking about the things that people say they care about, and so we’ll see," Scott told NBC News on Tuesday.

But Trump, notably, hasn't weighed in. His ability to anoint his chosen leader is complicated by the secret ballot, which means he won't know which senators don't support his preferred candidate — or be able to politically punish them.

All three candidates are running on promises to carry out Trump’s agenda, a clear point of agreement among them.

Thune and Cornyn are also touting their fundraising prowess and donations to help colleagues win elections.

"As Congress returns to Washington, we must prepare the Senate to advance [Trump's] agenda legislatively and ensure that the president-elect can hit the ground running with his appointees confirmed as soon as possible," Thune wrote in an op-ed for FoxNews.com. "The Senate Republican majority will work with President Trump to ensure the Senate calendar allows us to confirm his nominees and pass our shared agenda as quickly and as efficiently as possible."

In a letter to fellow Senate Republicans on Tuesday, Cornyn wrote, "In order to Make America Great Again, we must Make the Senate Work Again," and he promised to decentralize power.

"To that end, we will reinvest in a Senate committee process to drive an aggressive legislative agenda that secures our border, reduces federal spending, boosts our economy, unleashes the nation’s energy potential, and reverses bad Biden-Harris policies," Cornyn continued. "Our default position for legislation considered on the floor will be an open amendment process managed by the committee chairs to allow for amendments and increase debate."

As part of the leadership shakeup, Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming is running unopposed for the No. 2 position of majority whip. And the No. 3 slot features a battle between Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Joni Ernst of Iowa.

Asked about Cotton's team exuding confidence that he has the votes, Ernst said she's not so sure.

"Kamala Harris thought she had the votes, too," Ernst said.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com