Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Ronna McDaniel announced on Feb. 26 that she will step down from her role on March 8.
“I have decided to step aside at our Spring Training on March 8 in Houston to allow our nominee to select a chair of their choosing,” she said in a statement. “I remain committed to winning back the White House and electing Republicans up and down the ballot in November.”
In addition to Ms. McDaniel, RNC Co-chair Drew McKissick said he would also leave.
Serving as RNC chair since 2017, Ms. McDaniel is the committee’s longest-serving leader since the Civil War.
Former President Donald Trump—who is undoubtedly the leader of the Republican Party—endorsed North Carolina GOP Chair Michael Whatley after Ms. McDaniel’s resignation was widely reported.
The former president also endorsed his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, to be the RNC co-chair.
“We need to have the biggest legal ballot harvesting operation this country has ever seen,” she said. “It feels, for a long time, like the Democrats have been playing chess and we’ve been playing checkers.”
Ms. Trump said her goal for the Republican Party is “to be the opposite, to be steps ahead of them, and on our toes, and ahead of the game, and facing forward the whole time.”
In addition to Mr. Whatley and Ms. Trump, the former president also endorsed Chris LaCivita as the chief operating officer of RNC.
Mr. LaCivita is a senior adviser to President Trump’s 2024 campaign.
“[He] will manage the RNC’s day-to-day operations so it will become a fighting machine for 2024 and use all the tools available to win for the American people,” the former president said.
Trump Campaign Takeover
Ms. McDaniel, niece of Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and former chair of the Michigan GOP, was President Trump’s hand-picked choice to lead the RNC shortly after the 2016 election. Her profile as a suburban mother was also considered especially helpful as the party struggled to appeal to suburban women in the Trump era.Ms. McDaniel easily beat back criticism from opponents within the “Make America Great Again” movement to win reelection as party chair a year ago. But her opponents’ voices have since been increasing.
The party is also struggling to raise money. The RNC reported $8.7 million in the bank at the beginning of February compared to the Democratic National Committee’s $24 million.
Ms. McDaniel’s resignation came after President Trump won the South Carolina Republican primary and swept every contest that counted for Republican delegates, including Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
President Trump’s remaining key opponent, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, is facing mounted pressure to leave the race but she said she’s not going anywhere.
Americans for Prosperity Action (AFP), a libertarian conservative organization backed by billionaire Charles Koch, announced on Feb. 25 that it will no longer support Ms. Haley’s 2024 campaign financially.
The AFP will keep its endorsement of Ms. Haley.
The coming RNC leadership shakeup after Ms. McDaniel’s resignation could make the committee a resourceful source of support for President Trump’s 2024 campaign as the 2020 rematch between him and President Joe Biden is becoming increasingly inevitable.
Some Republicans share the concern with Ms. Trump that the Republican Party is not in a strong enough position for 2024.
Conservatives need to start viewing an election in the same way that left-wing organizations do, he said. It is not a one-day contest but rather a months-long effort to get voters to show up at polling places on Election Day and to cast their absentee or early votes before the event.
Mr. Kolvet said Turning Point wants a robust RNC, but “that’s not what we have right now.”
“We have an organization that is struggling to raise money, that has alienated a lot of big donors as well as grassroots donors,” he said. “They simply don’t have the resources or the wherewithal to get the job done.”
