RNC chair Ronna McDaniel to seek fourth term steering national committee

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Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel will seek a fourth two-year term steering the national party committee, Fox News has confirmed.

McDaniel announced her candidacy on Monday during a call with RNC committee members, multiple sources on that call told Fox News. Her decision to run for RNC chair comes as Republicans reconcile with disappointing losses in last week’s midterm elections, having failed to win a Senate majority, losing key governors races and facing the prospect of a very narrow majority in the House of Representatives in what was supposed to be a “Red Wave” election.

Following the 2016 election, former President Trump chose McDaniel – who at the time was the chair of the Michigan GOP – to steer the national party committee. She was re-elected in 2019 and 2021.

All 168 RNC committee members will vote on the next chair when they gather in early January for their annual winter meeting.

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However, McDaniel may have some competition for the RNC chair. Her leadership has been questioned amid the GOP’s middling election results, with conservatives like Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., demanding new leadership at every level of the Republican Party.

In light of those criticisms, Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York, who last week came close to defeating Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in the deep blue state, is mulling a bid, as Fox News reported Monday.

Also considering the position is Mercedes Schlapp, a former top Trump White House official who is the wife of American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp. The ACU’s annual Conservative Political Action Conference is a powerful force in Republican politics and particularly in GOP presidential primaries.

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McDaniel has defended her party’s performance in the election, observing that Republicans are projected to win the House and “wave goodbye” to Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., as speaker of the House.