Sen. Jeff Sessions will undergo a bruising confirmation process in his bid to become attorney general, but experts and conservative allies say the Alabama Republican’s firsthand experience on both sides of Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation fights have prepared him well for his hearings, which begin Tuesday.

Democrats put a bull’s-eye on Sessions early with hopes of blocking him from serving in President-elect Trump’s administration and have resurrected accusations of racism that damaged Sessions’ reputation decades ago. Sessions lost a bid to become a federal judge in 1986 at the hands of the Senate Judiciary Committee, dogged by claims from a former colleague that he made racially insensitive comments.