Ronna McDaniel won election to a historic fourth consecutive term Friday as chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, defeating attorney Harmeet Dhillon and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.
On the first ballot, McDaniel secured the support of 111 of the 168 voting members, enough to easily declare victory. Dhillon received 51, Lindell received four and former New York Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin received one, with one vote not cast.
With a fourth term secure, McDaniel becomes the longest serving RNC chair in the party’s history. After the results were announced McDaniel asked Dhillon and Lindell to come to the stage where she expressed her admiration of the two and made a plea for unity as the party prepares for the 2024 presidential election. Dhillon was captured on a microphone wishing McDaniel “congratulations” and “good luck.”
Utah GOP State party chairman Carson Jorgensen, who was one of three delegates representing the state, told the Deseret News he was undecided on who to support before traveling to California for the RNC winter meeting. Jorgensen declined to share who he ultimately supported but said the race was important so leadership could hear the concerns of the grassroots.
Jorgensen said party members across the country should feel confident the party is united in its goal to defeat Democrats. He previously told the Deseret News he believes RNC leadership should direct greater resources toward “election integrity in certain states to ensure they are following their voting procedures.”
McDaniel — a graduate of Brigham Young University and niece of Utah Sen. Mitt Romney — has led the GOP since 2017, when former President Donald Trump handpicked her to take the helm of the party.
After a disappointing 2022 midterm election, some in the GOP thought it was time for new leadership. Dhillon, a TV personality and Republican attorney who represented Trump in multiple lawsuits, said she planned to implement a more aggressive election strategy for the party. “Republicans are tired of losing,” she said to media last week. “(McDaniel) has had six years of leadership and in those six years we have successively lost the White House, the Senate and the now barely performed in a promised red wave.”
Trump congratulated McDaniel on her reelection shortly after the results of the race were announced. “Congratulations to Ronna McDaniel on her big WIN as RNC CHAIR. Now we have to STOP THE DEMOCRATS FROM CHEATING IN ELECTIONS!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Although Trump didn’t endorse any candidate leading up to the RNC chair election, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis expressed support for Dhillon in a video released Thursday of an interview he did with Republican activist Charlie Kirk.
“I think we need to get some new blood in the RNC,” DeSantis said after expressing frustration with GOP election results. “I like what Harmeet Dhillon has said about getting the RNC out of D.C. ... Practically speaking you need grassroots Republicans to power this organization. I think it’s going to be really difficult to get people to give money, to get people to volunteer their time with the RNC if they don’t see a change in direction,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis also told Kirk his recent reelection campaign success was done largely without the help of the RNC. He said his campaign organized their own get-out-the-vote effort because the RNC had not raised the money it needed to help out around the country.
The race this year for RNC chair was unusually contentions at times.
Earlier this month, Dhillon claimed some McDaniel supporters had started a whisper campaign against her Sikh faith. McDaniel who is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, responded in a statement condemning any form of religious bigotry.
“We are the party of faith, family and freedom, and these attacks have no place in our party or our politics,” McDaniel said. “As a member of a minority faith myself, I would never condone such attacks. I have vowed to run a positive campaign and will continue to do so.”
McDaniel positioned herself during the race as the only person able to juggle the different Republican factions within the party. The first 2024 GOP presidential primary elections will take place roughly one year from today in Iowa and New Hampshire.
The Republican National Convention, where the party will officially nominate a presidential candidate, will take place July 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where McDaniel will preside as the party chair.