By Taisha Parrott
The Republican National Committee (RNC) will hold its annual winter meeting in California where committee members will vote to elect the next chairman on January 27, 2023. The committee is made up of 168 men and women, three from each state. The elected chairman will lead the RNC through the 2024 presidential election. Vying for that seat are incumbent Ronna McDaniel; Mike Lindell, MyPillow CEO and staunch supporter of President Trump; and Harmeet Dhillon, an RNC member and lawyer whose firm represents President Trump.
Ronna McDaniel
McDaniel was President Trump’s pick to lead the RNC after the 2016 presidential election. Since her win in 2017 Republicans experienced the loss of the house in 2018, the loss of the senate and white house in 2020, underperformance in the 2022 midterm elections, and the loss of Pennsylvania and Georgia senate runoff elections for the second year in a row. Even with this record, Newsweek reported, McDaniel has received an endorsement from 107 of the RNC’s members. She needs at least 85 votes to win. McDaniel now seeks an unprecedented fourth term and if reelected, she would be the longest-serving RNC chair.
In a press release, McDaniel states her 2024 vision and beyond as “continuing the success we saw in 2022, such as growing the party with Hispanic, Asian, and Black voters. In addition, the council will also advise on engaging with suburban women, winning the youth vote, holding Big Tech accountable, supporting law enforcement, and delivering for Americans of faith.”
In the wake of these losses is interesting to note a developing story by RedState posted December 14, 2022. RedState combed-through the RNC’s financials from an internal October 2022 report on spending and FEC filings for the 2021-22 election cycle. A portion of their review of the RNC’s expenditures and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) expenditures are included for perspective is as follows:
| RNC | DNC |
| $3.1 million on private jet services | $35,000 on private jets |
| $1.3 million on limousine/chauffeur services | |
| $17.1 million on donor mementos | $1.5 million on donor gifts |
| $750,000 on floral arrangements | $1,000 for floral arrangements |
| $80,000 in alcohol-related expenditures | |
| More than $150,000 on what could be considered non-essential office expenses, including $25,000 on coffee, $7,000 on cupcakes, nearly $7,000 on candles and diffusers |
Emma Vaughn, an RNC employee and spokesperson for McDaniel’s re-election campaign, responded to the RedState’s article and called it “blatantly false” and a hit piece executed with and on behalf of Harmeet Dhillon.
Harmeet Dhillon
While on the Tucker Carlson show, she expressed her reason for running and vision for the RNC as follows:
“I am going to run for RNC chair. And the reason is that, to play off of a famous catchphrase, Republicans are tired of losing, and I think that we really need to radically reshape our leadership in order to win. And we can’t keep running elections like we did in the 90s and the 2000s.”
“We really have to modernize to compete with the Democrats dollar-for-dollar—in the ways they fundraise, the way they deliver their ballots to the ballot boxes. Our messaging needs to be fresh and positive and not just reactive to news cycles and what the Democrats are doing.”
“I think that the party needs to realize that the party has become a populist party. The base of the party demands populist messages that speak to them and not Chamber of Commerce messages, not neocon messages, not warmonger messages. I’m afraid that the base of our party is not getting what it needs from our leadership.”
Mike Lindell
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell for the past couple of years has been laser focused on election integrity, specifically campaigning to have all 50 states remove or not use Dominion election voting machines and return to paper ballots.
The disappointment of an unrealized red wave and his belief that McDaniel has “failed in her leadership,” stirred him to put his hat in the ring for RNC chair. He believes the party needs “a new input to get a different output…”
Lindell has stated, as chair, he would focus on election integrity and election crime, cut affiliation with non performing lawyers, and realign the republican party so that it backs candidates like Kari Lake and mark Finchem of Arizona.
Lindell indicated he had garnered support from many party donors and going to call all 168 committee members in an effort to oust McDaniel.
The vote for chair typically takes place without grassroot input. Given what is at stake, our country and the Republican party, it probably time they heard from you.
New York Committee Members Contact Information:
Office: 315 State St, Albany, NY 12210
Nicholas Langworthy – State Chairman
twitter: @nicklangworthy
email: chairman@nygop.org
Jennifer Rich – National Committee Woman
email: jsrich92@me.com
