RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel beats back challengers to win 4th term
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel successfully beat back one of the most serious threats to her leadership to date after decisively winning a fourth term atop the GOP at the party's winter meeting on Friday. Her victory ends months of speculation over her future given last November's lackluster showing for Republican candidates, for which a number of party members blamed McDaniel.
McDaniel won Friday's vote earning 111 ballots of the 167 total cast. Her nearest challenger, RNC member and California attorney Harmeet Dhillon, received 51 votes, bolstered in part by a last-minute endorsement from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), seen by many as a potential challenger for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. Businessman and election conspiracist Mike Lindell earned just four votes, while former New York Congressman and gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin, who was not an official candidate in the race, got a single vote.
In a statement released shortly after her victory, McDaniel subtly acknowledged the frustrations from within her party over last year's defeats, writing that "the work to make Joe Biden a one-term president is already underway." She added that she "look[s] forward to working alongside conservative leaders, including Harmeet and Mike, from across our party to deliver on our promises to the American people."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Former president Donald Trump, who first worked to elevate McDaniel to the Republican National Committee's top post in 2017, celebrated Friday's win on his Truth Social platform, congratulating her "on her big WIN as RNC CHAIR."
"Now we have to STOP THE DEMOCRATS FROM CHEATING IN ELECTIONS!," he added.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.
-
6 homes for entertainingFeature Featuring a heated greenhouse in Pennsylvania and a glamorous oasis in California
-
Obesity drugs: Will Trump’s plan lower costs?Feature Even $149 a month, the advertised price for a starting dose of a still-in-development GLP-1 pill on TrumpRx, will be too big a burden for the many Americans ‘struggling to afford groceries’
-
The ‘Kavanaugh stop’Feature Activists say a Supreme Court ruling has given federal agents a green light to racially profile Latinos
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
-
Trump pivots on Epstein vote amid GOP defectionsSpeed Read The president said House Republicans should vote on a forced release of the Justice Department’s Jeffrey Epstein files
-
Trump DOJ sues to block California redistrictingSpeed Read California’s new congressional map was drawn by Democrats to flip Republican-held House seats
-
GOP retreats from shutdown deal payout provisionSpeed Read Senators are distancing themselves from a controversial provision in the new government funding package
-
Catholic bishops rebuke Trump on immigrationSpeed Read ‘We feel compelled’ to ‘raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity,’ the bishops said
-
House releases Epstein emails referencing TrumpSpeed Read The emails suggest Trump knew more about Epstein’s sex trafficking of underage women than he has claimed
-
Newsom slams Trump’s climate denial at COP30speed read Trump, who has called climate change a ‘hoax,’ declined to send any officials to this week’s summit
-
UK, Colombia halt intel to US over boat attacksSpeed Read Both countries have suspended intelligence sharing with the US over the bombing of civilian boats suspected of drug smuggling
