(Bloomberg) — Donald Trump’s grip on the upcoming Republican U.S. Senate faces an early test Wednesday as a longtime ally of the president-elect tries to win a leadership battle against two stalwarts of the party establishment.

Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, a staunch Trump supporter who stood in court to show his support during the president-elect’s criminal trial earlier this year, is seeking an upset victory in the race to replace the Senate Republican leader , Mitch McConnell.

Rivals John Thune of South Dakota and John Cornyn of Texas, both longtime McConnell deputies, are favored over him in the contest.

Senate leadership elections are usually among the last domestic affairs in Washington, regulated by secret ballot of senators.

However, Scott’s bid attracted a high-profile public campaign on his behalf by Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Musk rallied his support for the Florida senator on his social media platform X. Trump did not make any endorsements.

Scott, who just won election to a second term, has complained for years that McConnell was not bold enough to advance conservative causes.

The former health care company executive and two-term governor has garnered support from right-wing Republican senators and the conservative pro-growth caucus. Scott has often voted against measures to fund the government and has opposed raising the federal debt limit — something Congress will have to navigate again next year. He called on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to resign over his handling of inflation.

Scott won by just 10 votes against McConnell two years ago, even though he had Trump’s support in that election. Thune and Cornyn have spent many years courting their peers and powerful interests, and both have a deep understanding of how the chamber works.

Most senators, who will have to turn to future party leaders for plum committee assignments and colleagues to support favorable causes, have refrained from making public endorsements.

Thune and Cornyn have tried to appeal to Trump and his supporters, hoping to work together on issues like extending the 2017 tax overhaul and securing the border.

Thune, however, faced strong criticism for his criticism of Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, while Cornyn faced criticism from gun rights advocates for crafting a compromise bill on gun safety with democracies.

Thune, a former state railroad official and lobbyist, previously chaired the Commerce Committee and has long supported the ethanol industry. Cornyn, a former Texas attorney general and state Supreme Court justice, has ties to his state’s oil and gas industry.

Scott, one of the wealthiest members of Congress, has served mostly outside the Republican power structure except for a stint as chairman of the party’s 2022 campaign committee.

He had a rocky relationship with McConnell during his tenure on the campaign trail, and several of the party’s Trump-backed Senate nominees failed in that election.

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