W hen Republican members of the Senate gathered in Washington this week to name their leadership to run the chamber next year, there were some preliminary rumblings about the need

GOP Whip John Thune of South Dakota was elected by the Senate Republican Conference to succeed Mitch McConnell as leader in a secret election.

In an interview with POLITICO Magazine, Liam Donovan, a former GOP political operative and lobbyist who’s a close observer of Capitol Hill, laid out the political landmines facing the candidates to be the next Senate majority leader and the sway that Trump holds — or doesn’t hold — in the contest.

He rode a remarkable and ahistoric wave back to re-election last week, one in which his allies expanded their majority in the House, and the Senate will return in January with Republicans holding the gavels.