FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., will vote for Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., in the first secret ballot Wednesday morning in the leadership election.

“I told Rick Scott and John Cornyn today that I will vote for John Thune for the first time,” the North Dakota senator said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.

Thune is competing against Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Rick Scott, R-Fla., to succeed Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as Republican leader in the upper chamber. McConnell is the longest-serving party leader in Senate history.

“Thune never lied to me,” Cramer said of the leadership candidate. “I can’t say that about everyone.”

Despite this comment, he said there were no “enemies” within the conference, which he said was a “good group”.

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Kevin Cramer is the latest Republican to publicly support Thune. (Reuters)

He said he believed getting approval was “the way to do it.” “There are 53 of us. We all sought out these positions of influence and, you know, appearing neutral seems a kind of cowardice, if you will.”

To justify his support for Thune, the senator explained their long history, both being from Dakota. “I’ve known John Thune since we were kids,” he said, referring to the 1990 election cycle in North Dakota and South Dakota, when they were Republican Party executives.

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Sen. John Thune, Republican of South Dakota, speaks during a news conference following the Senate Republican Policy Lunches at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“Of course, all four of us from the Dakotas support him,” he added. Thune and Sen. Mike Rounds, R.S.D., publicly support the former, but Sen. John Hoeven, R.N.D., has not offered his public support.

Hoeven’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

“I mean, John and I have a long personal relationship. He’s a good friend. He’s from the neighborhood,” Cramer said.

According to the North Dakota Republican, he believes the leadership race will have to go to a second secret ballot, since a candidate needs to reach 27 votes to win.

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Senators John Thune, John Cornyn and Rick Scott are contenders to succeed Mitch McConnell at the head of the country. (Getty Images)

As for the high-profile mentions of Scott coming from outside figures frequently aligned with President-elect Donald Trump, Cramer said, “Everyone has an opinion. I mean, I have people in my own party in North Dakota who would like me to do one thing or another.

But he emphasized that the Republican conference as a whole was in line with Trump. “I supported Donald Trump and Donald Trump supported me,” the senator said.

“When it literally comes to the question of governing, we are all on the same team. The Republican majority in the Senate is aligned with Donald Trump’s agenda.”

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Scott received several endorsements from people aligned with Trump. (Reuters)

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Trump notably has not endorsed a leading candidate, despite pressure from those in his orbit, such as Billionaire X owner Elon Musk.

Thune was also endorsed by Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla. Cornyn was recently endorsed by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Scott is supported by Sens. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., Rand Paul, R-Ky., Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla.