McDaniel To Return as RNC Chairwoman

The Republican National Committee chairwoman will be returning to her post despite what appeared to be a late groundswell of grassroots opposition.In the final vote tally Friday, Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel received 111 votes while a California committeewoman, Harmeet Dhillon, finished in second place with 51. Another candidate, the MyPillow CEO, Mike Lindell, recorded four votes and Representative Lee Zeldin received one.The vote was the conclusion of a fierce campaign that acted as something of a proxy for infighting within the Republican Party.Spurred by the disappointing GOP results in the midterm election, Ms. Dhillon represented a coalition of Republicans pushing for change within the party. Ms. McDaniel, who was tapped to head the party by President Trump in 2016, represented the status quo.Before votes were cast, Ms. Dhillon made the argument that without a change in leadership, Republicans would continue to underperform in elections as they had in 2018, 2020, and 2022.“Ignoring the will of the voters in your state is a good way not to get elected again,” Ms. Dhillon told the Associated Press ahead of the election.Ms. Dhillon had attracted the support of not only grassroots members of the party but also some of its right flank, such as Representative Matt Gaetz, and a potential presidential candidate, Governor DeSantis.“I think we need a change,” Mr. DeSantis said in an interview with Florida’s Voice. “I think we need to get some new blood in the RNC.”Ms. McDaniel made the argument that the party needed to unify ahead of the 2024 elections in order to stand the best chance of winning.“Coming together is the beginning. Staying together is progress. But working together is success,” Ms. McDaniel said. “We have to come together after this meeting and focus on what we have ahead of us.”Although Mr. Trump refused to publicly support a candidate, saying that either would be a good choice, he had supporters whipping votes on Ms. McDaniels’s behalf at the winter meeting where the vote took place.While the rules of the RNC prevent the committee from officially siding with any candidate in the presidential primary, the position of committee chairwoman will be important in influencing fundraising ahead of the 2024 election.While both Ms. McDaniel and Ms. Dhillon pledged to remain neutral in the presidential primary — though Ms. Dhillon has represented Mr. Trump and his organizations in court — they did address the upcoming election in their bids.Ms. McDaniel made the case that she was best positioned to prevent Mr. Trump from running as an independent or forming a third party should he not receive the GOP nomination. Ms. Dhillon had courted both some of Mr. Trump’s fiercest defenders and harshest opponents in building her coalition of supporters.Mr. Lindell, whose campaign never garnered much support from RNC members, ran as a loyalist of Mr. Trump. Mr. Lindell has already endorsed Mr. Trump in his 2024 campaign.“I’ve never not endorsed Donald Trump,” Mr. Lindell said. “I’m never moving off that space.”

McDaniel To Return as RNC Chairwoman

McDaniel To Return as RNC Chairwoman

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