In the first seriously contested Senate Republican leadership election in decades, three senators are vying to replace longtime GOP leader Mitch McConnell when he steps down from the post at the beginning of next year.

The Republicans in the US Senate on Wednesday elected John Thune of South Dakota as the chamber's next majority leader. The Republicans secured a majority in the Senate in last week's US election, which also swept Donald Trump back into the White House.

United States Senator John Thune won the secret ballot making him the new Republican Senate Leader and the majority leader of the upper chamber in the new Congress.