Challengers Emerge in Race To Replace McDaniel Atop the RNC

For a while it looked like the Republican National Committee chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel, would sail to victory in the race to retain her spot at the top of the party. Now, however, it appears she will face competition from another member of the committee, Harmeet Dhillon, and perhaps from Congressman Lee Zeldin as well.Although Mr. Zeldin has not yet officially announced, a final decision will need to be made in the near future. The election is scheduled for the party’s winter meeting in January.So far, only Ms. McDaniel and the CEO of MyPillow, Mike Lindell, have announced candidacies for the position. Mr. Zeldin’s entry would represent a challenge to Ms. McDaniel’s leadership from a more politically experienced Republican.Ms. Dhillon, an ally of President Trump whose law firm has represented him in the past, is also teasing a potential bid to lead the committee.“After three successive terms of underwhelming results at the polls for the GOP, all the while with leaders congratulating ourselves for outstanding performance, I feel that we owe it to our voters to have a serious debate about the leadership of the party,” Ms. Dhillon said in a statement.A spokesman for Mr. Zeldin, Brian Morgenstern, tells the Sun that Mr. Zeldin is “speaking with members of the RNC about the best path forward to retool, transform, and re-energize the party,” and is seriously considering a run.“Rep. Zeldin is humbled by the outpouring of support he has received from conservative activists around the country,” Mr. Morgenstern said.While Ms. McDaniel has received the endorsement of about two-thirds of the voting body that elects the national leader, Mr. Zeldin has received endorsements from both the New York Post editorial board and in the pages of the Washington Examiner.“Zeldin did not even have to campaign as a centrist to earn votes,” the Cocke County, Tennessee, GOP chairman, Kenneth Cody, wrote. “He simply hammered Democrats on their failures while offering solutions for Republicans across New York that independents could buy into.”The Post’s endorsement of Mr. Zeldin focused on his ability to unify the fractured factions within the GOP as well as his performance in New York, which many credit for helping flip three House seats.Mr. Zeldin has also publicly questioned whether all 101 signatories of the letter endorsing Ms. McDaniel would support her if he were to enter the race, though he was unspecific on names and numbers.One of the Republican committee delegates of Vermont, Jay Shepard, also has said as much, stating that the “grassroots” of the party are behind Mr. Zeldin.“I think Ronna has done a good job as our chair,” he said. “However, I believe Congressman Lee Zeldin will do an exceptional job, so I will be supporting Zeldin for chair.”It’s not just the grassroots of the party that is looking for an alternative to Ms. McDaniel — it appears some prominent members of the party’s donor class are also looking to move on from her leadership.Major donors like the CEO of the Blackstone Group, Stephen Schwarzman, and industrialist Andrew Sabin have told Mr. Zeldin that they would prefer his leadership, according to the Post.Governor Noem of South Dakota has also suggested that Ms. McDaniel is unfit for leadership following the party’s performances in 2018, 2020, and 2022.“We need to win. That’s just the fact. Our kids’ future depends on it. We really have a responsibility to message what Republican policies bring to this country,” Ms. Noem said on Fox News. “And I don’t know of a party that can continue to lose like we have, and [its leaders] keep their jobs,” she added.Mr. Morgenstern tells the Sun that Mr. Zeldin is focused on reforming the party to become a more unified, bottom-up organization and pivoting to appeal not only to Republicans but also to independents and ticket-splitting Democrats.Many Republicans are also reflecting on the party’s historically poor performance in 2022 and how the promised “red wave” only made landfall in New York and Florida. The isolation of Republicans successes have led some to pin the future of the party on fresh ideas from Governor DeSantis in Florida and Mr. Zeldin in New York.Some of these ideas are familiar for those that have read previous Republican autopsies, such as the need to appeal to minority voters — a factor that featured prominently in the party’s post-2012 autopsy.Other reforms, however, have met with more resistance from the Republican ranks, such as developing a more effective early and mail-in voting strategy and a renewed focus on winning over urban voters.“Lee Zeldin is uniquely positioned to bring the party together and grow it because he appeals to a broad coalition,” Mr. Morgenstern said. “He does this by listening to voters, not consultants in Washington, D.C.”

Challengers Emerge in Race To Replace McDaniel Atop the RNC

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