Senate Republicans elected South Dakota Senator John Thune as the next leader of their conference on Wednesday.

Thune won by a vote of 29 to 24, defeating Texas Senator John Cornyn. Florida Senator Rick Scott, an outsider candidate supported by prominent Trump allies, including Elon Musk, was eliminated on the first ballot.

Thune, 63, currently serves as the Senate Republican Whip, while Cornyn, 72, previously held the position.

Thune will become the first new head of the Republican conference in nearly two decades, taking over after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced earlier this year that he would step down from the post after 18 years. McConnell leaves the position as the longest-serving conference leader in Senate history.

Senate Republican leadership elections are “first past the post,” meaning the winner must secure a majority of the votes. Scott, who received the fewest votes on the first ballot, was eliminated from the race. Thune secured a majority on the second ballot.

The new GOP leadership team will take office alongside Republican President Donald Trump in the White House and a Republican majority in the House. The Senate leadership will play a key role in working with the White House to staff the incoming Trump administration and advance the party’s legislative agenda.

Despite the anticipation and public pressure, few senators disclosed how they planned to vote in the secret ballot ahead of time.

Trump, who refrained from publicly weighing in on the race, stated on Sunday that he expected the winner of the leadership contest to support recess appointments for his administration. That would enable the president to fill key government positions for two years without needing Senate approval.

“Any Republican Senator seeking the coveted LEADERSHIP position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate!), without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner,” Trump wrote in a post on X. “Sometimes the votes can take two years, or more. This is what they did four years ago, and we cannot let it happen again.”