Alabama’s two Republican U.S. senators are supporting Luther Strange in his campaign for attorney general against the GOP incumbent, Troy King.

The Birmingham News reported Wednesday that Sens. Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions are the featured guests at a Washington fund-raiser for Strange, a former lobbyist who was the party’s nominee for lieutenant governor in 2006.

Shelby and Sessions helped King win three years ago, but are lining up behind his opponent this time in a rare switch by key party figures.

King said Wednesday he was “disappointed, but not surprised, that our Washington politicians would be supporting a Washington lobbyist.” He described Strange as a “political insider” in Congress.