The final week of the midterm election has seen a flurry of last-minute, behind-the-scenes jockeying in House leadership races, even though it’s unclear which party will control the lower chamber after Election Day.

Chief Deputy Majority Whip Patrick McHenry Patrick Timothy McHenryCheney battle raises questions about House GOP's future Hillicon Valley: Democrats request counterintelligence briefing | New pressure for election funding | Republicans urge retaliation against Chinese hackers House Republicans urge Trump to take action against Chinese hackers targeting coronavirus research MORE (R-N.C.) is expected to seek a promotion in GOP leadership and challenge Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers Cathy McMorris RodgersHillicon Valley: Trump backs potential Microsoft, TikTok deal, sets September deadline | House Republicans request classified TikTok briefing | Facebook labels manipulated Pelosi video Top House Republicans request classified TikTok briefing More than 100 lawmakers urge IRS to resolve stimulus payment issues MORE (R-Wash.) for majority whip, the No. 3 post, if Republicans hold the House, multiple GOP sources said.

Normally a backroom operator, McHenry this week publicly announced he had raised $16 million for his colleagues this cycle and held nearly 200 fundraising events.

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Rep. Liz Cheney Elizabeth (Liz) Lynn CheneyOVERNIGHT ENERGY: Cheney asks DOJ to probe environmental groups | Kudlow: 'No sector worse hurt than energy' during pandemic | Trump pledges 'no politics' in Pebble Mine review Cheney asks DOJ to probe environmental groups Press: The big no-show at the RNC MORE (R-Wyo.), former Vice President Dick Cheney’s daughter, is gearing up for a leadership bid this year, while Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy Kevin Owen McCarthyMcCarthy's Democratic challenger to launch first TV ad highlighting Air Force service as single mother Trump asked Chamber of Commerce to reconsider Democratic endorsements: report The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by The Air Line Pilots Association - White House moves closer to Pelosi on virus relief bill MORE (R-Calif.), Whip Steve Scalise Stephen (Steve) Joseph ScaliseHouse GOP slated to unveil agenda ahead of election House panel details 'serious' concerns around Florida, Georgia, Texas, Wisconsin elections Scalise hit with ethics complaint over doctored Barkan video MORE (R-La.) and others eyeing top jobs are fanning out across the country to stump for colleagues whose support they’ll need to climb the leadership ladder later this month.

Across the aisle, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) this week issued a surprising demand that’s threatening to derail Nancy Pelosi Nancy PelosiPelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare House lawmakers reach deal to avert shutdown Centrist Democrats 'strongly considering' discharge petition on GOP PPP bill MORE’s return to the Speaker’s Office: A CBC member should be in one of the top two leadership posts in any shake-up of the team, the group said.

Of course, everything hinges on what happens on Tuesday night. And all of the political posturing and maneuvering suggests ambitious lawmakers are trying to put themselves in the strongest position even before the official wheeling and dealing gets underway after Election Day.

“People are announcing early because they feel a big change coming and want to position themselves before the final deals are cut,” a House Democratic lawmaker told The Hill.

Republicans will hold an internal vote on their new leadership team on Nov. 14, just eight days after the election. Democrats will hold their internal leadership election on Nov. 28.

Dems should ‘walk our talk’

Democrats are feeling more and more confident they will seize control of the House after eight years wandering in the political wilderness. But if that happens, the party’s old bulls are angling to occupy the same posts they held the last time Democrats were in power.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer Steny Hamilton HoyerOn The Money: Powell, Mnuchin stress limits of emergency loans | House seeks to salvage vote on spending bill | Economists tell lawmakers: Kill the virus to heal the economy House moves toward spending vote after bipartisan talks House Democrats mull delay on spending bill vote MORE (D-Md.) — who have held a firm grip on power for more than a decade — are expected to run for Speaker and majority leader, respectively.

That has left frustrated rank-and-file members, who have been clamoring for new blood in the party’s entrenched leadership, scrambling to lay down a marker and ensure their voices are heard in the potentially dramatic and hectic leadership battle.

The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), a key voting bloc in the caucus, began circulating a “Dear Colleague” letter this week calling for one of their own to be in the No. 1 or 2 spot, if Pelosi or Hoyer don’t retain their posts.

“After 229 years as a Congress, we have never had an African American in either of the top two leadership positions. It’s time we walk our talk and provide the transformational change our constituents are calling for,” CBC Chairman Cedric Richmond Cedric Levon RichmondRep. Bill Pascrell named chair of House oversight panel Rep. Cedric Richmond set to join House Ways and Means Committee Biden campaign ratchets up courting of Black voters, specifically Black men MORE (D-La.) wrote in the letter.

The letter does not explicitly endorse Rep. Jim Clyburn James (Jim) Enos ClyburnAzar to testify before House coronavirus subcommittee Attacks against the police are organized and violent Clark rolls out endorsements in assistant Speaker race MORE (D-S.C.), the assistant leader and No. 3 House Democrat, for the job. Some sources think the CBC is trying to gain leverage in the leadership fight, enabling them to potentially cut a deal with Pelosi for the majority leader post.

Others said Richmond's letter was just the latest twist in a long-running campaign by CBC members to push Clyburn to get more aggressive in his pursuit of a top leadership spot. In recent weeks, the assistant leader has expressed an interest in becoming a “transitional” Speaker, but only if Pelosi is unable to secure the spot. And he’s shown no appetite for challenging Hoyer, after an unsuccessful challenge for the No. 2 seat after the 2010 elections.

“I read that as they’re frustrated with Clyburn. … I think they see this thing happening Tuesday, and the music will stop and they won’t have a chair,” said a former Democratic leadership aide. “When you’re trying to get your guy to move, and you’re like, ‘OK, we’ll just light a fire around you.’”

Clyburn’s office did not respond Friday to a request for comment.

If he runs for whip, the No. 3 spot, Clyburn could face a challenge from Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), who has led the Democrat’s campaign operation for the past two cycles and will be looking for his next move after what’s expected to be a successful election night.

“Sounds like the letter was aimed at Ben Ray Luján,” a Democratic source said. “The CBC feared he was picking up steam for whip and would have blocked Clyburn.”

GOP maneuvering

On the GOP side, things could get just as messy.

While Scalise has said he wouldn’t challenge McCarthy for the Speaker’s gavel, Scalise did not rule out taking on McCarthy for minority leader if Republicans lose the House, according to an interview he gave to Roll Call.

Both men have been barnstorming the country for the past month, raising cash and building chits with vulnerable colleagues as they desperately try to save the GOP majority.

McCarthy has been everywhere — Ohio, Kansas, Nevada, California, Arizona, Missouri — and that was just in the past few days. This week, Scalise campaigned in North Carolina for Republican candidate Mark Harris and Reps. Ted Budd Theodore (Ted) Paul BuddHouse Dems introduce bill to require masks on planes and in airports Bipartisan bill introduced to require TSA to take temperature checks How to combat substance abuse during COVID-19 MORE, Richard Hudson Richard Lane HudsonHow Congress is preventing a Medicare bankruptcy during COVID-19 Cook shifts 20 House districts toward Democrats American meat producers must leverage new technology to protect consumers, workers MORE and George Holding George Edward Bell HoldingGOP lawmaker says US-UK negotiators working 'fast and furious' on trade deal Hispanic Caucus campaign arm endorses slate of non-Hispanic candidates Whiskey, workers and friends caught in the trade dispute crossfire MORE; GOP hopeful Denver Riggleman in Virginia; Rep. Tom MacArthur Thomas (Tom) Charles MacArthurRepublican David Richter wins NJ primary in race to challenge Rep. Andy Kim What to watch in New Jersey's primaries on Tuesday Republicans plot comeback in New Jersey MORE in New Jersey; Rep. John Faso John James FasoDemocrats go big on diversity with new House recruits Kyle Van De Water wins New York GOP primary to challenge Rep. Antonio Delgado The most expensive congressional races of the last decade MORE in New York; and Rep. Andy Barr Andy BarrPowell, Mnuchin stress limits of current emergency lending programs McConnell holds 12-point lead over Democratic challenger McGrath: poll Democrats fear 2016 repeat despite Biden's lead in polls MORE in Kentucky.

A Cheney-Scalise alliance?

Cheney joined Scalise on the campaign trail this week, which suggests an interesting political alliance between the majority whip, Scalise’s right-hand man McHenry and the former vice president’s daughter.

Cheney has told colleagues she will run for GOP conference chair regardless of whether Republicans are in the majority or minority, sources said. That could pit her against McMorris Rodgers, who is expected to run for GOP whip in the majority but could seek to stay in the leadership role she’s held for the past six years if Republicans find themselves in the minority.

Scalise and McMorris Rodgers have clashed in the past: She briefly challenged him for the majority leader job after Speaker John Boehner John Andrew BoehnerLongtime House parliamentarian to step down Five things we learned from this year's primaries Bad blood between Pelosi, Meadows complicates coronavirus talks MORE’s resignation in 2015, though she dropped out of the race after support failed to materialize.

“I never got the sense [McMorris Rodgers] meshed well with the rest of the leadership team,” a GOP lawmaker told The Hill on Friday.

But another GOP source said the anonymous lawmaker has probably never been part of a team. And the source argued that Cheney, a freshman lawmaker, is hardly ready for prime time, pointing to her abandoned 2014 primary challenge against Sen. Mike Enzi Michael (Mike) Bradley EnziChamber of Commerce endorses McSally for reelection Cynthia Lummis wins GOP Senate primary in Wyoming The Hill's Convention Report: Democrats gear up for Day Two of convention MORE (R-Wyo.) that had critics labeling her a carpetbagger.

“It's not the first time Cheney has gotten ahead of herself,” the GOP source said. “She may be ready for a role in the future, but she's certainly not yet.”

Stumping with Scalise in the coastal town of Toms River, N.J., Cheney dodged questions about whether she was running for leadership and said she was completely focused on the midterms.

“People know they are better off now than they were two years ago and that all is going to come to a stop if we don't keep the majority, so we're going to fight hard till Tuesday,” Cheney told The Hill on Friday.

If Republicans defy the odds and hang on to the House, sources are expecting McHenry to make a play for majority whip, a post he appeared poised to win in 2015 until McCarthy unexpectedly dropped his bid for the Speakership.

McHenry has been crisscrossing the country and raising serious cash, including $7.7 million for GOP colleagues and another $2.6 million to the GOP campaign arm.

“McHenry ran for whip in 2015 and felt very good about where he was going there. He has done the chief deputy whip job successfully for 4 1/2 years,” said a senior GOP aide. “It’d be natural for him to move up.”

If Republicans are relegated to the minority on Tuesday, McHenry is expected to seek the ranking member slot on the powerful Financial Services Committee.

Juliegrace Brufke contributed from Toms River, N.J. Mike Lillis also contributed.