Republicans are going behind closed doors to choose McConnell’s successor on Wednesday

The upcoming Senate Republican Conference will meet Wednesday morning to hold secret ballot elections for several leadership positions, including the successor to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who will lead the Republican majority next year.

At 9:30 a.m., the conference for the 119th Congress will select a new leader, Republican whip, conference chairman, Republican Policy Committee chairman, vice conference chairman and chairman of the National Republican Senate Committee (NRS).

Those vying for the coveted leadership role are Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., and Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Rick Scott, R-Fla.

There is speculation that Senators John Cornyn, John Thune and Rick Scott are contenders in the race to succeed Mitch McConnell as leader. (Getty Images)

On Tuesday, 42 GOP senators gathered for a leadership candidate forum led by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. Several lawmakers expressed satisfaction with how the discussion went, and Scott closed the evening with two additional statements of support.

According to Lee, Republicans discussed a range of issues, some procedural, some substantive and some policy-oriented.

Notably, President-elect Donald Trump has not expressed support for the Senate leadership race. However, Scott’s race has drawn support from high-profile Trump allies such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and X owner Elon Musk.

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Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso, R-Wyo., is running unopposed for whip, while Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., is running unopposed for conference vice chairman. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., is running unopposed in her candidacy for Republican Policy Committee chairman and Sen. Tim Scott, R-W.C., is running unopposed for NRSC chairman.

Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., will face off for the No. 3 GOP role of conference chairman.

The elections on Wednesday morning will take place in the old Senate chamber in the Capitol. Before each race, each candidate receives two nomination speeches from other senators. Then they make their own case. There may be some discussion before senators vote, and the secret ballot will remain private unless individual senators decide to announce who they have chosen. Even then, there is no way to verify this.

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, November 6, 2024 (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The election could last hours, while the 2022 election lasted until 1 p.m. after Scott challenged McConnell in the leadership race.

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To be elected, a candidate must receive a majority vote of the 53-member conference. This means they have to collect 27 votes.

Senators won’t take on the new roles until the new Congress begins in January.