Ronna McDaniel wins reelection as RNC chair: ‘We heard you, grassroots’

DANA POINT, Calif. (FLV) – Ronna McDaniel was reelected to her position as Republican National Committee chairwoman after the vote was held Friday, Jan. 27.

She received 111 of 167 votes. The winner needed a simple majority of votes cast.

Dhillon received 51, Lindell received four, and former New York gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin received one.

After the results were announced, the chairwoman called up opponents Harmeet Dhillon and Mike Lindell and thanked them for the competitive race.

“We heard you grassroots, we know,” McDaniel said. “The Democrats are gonna hear us in 2024 when we take back the White House and the Senate.”

Before the vote, state party representatives gave their opinions on who the next chairperson should be.

The meeting took place in Southern California. The chairperson serves a two-year term.

A day before the vote, Gov. Ron DeSantis chimed in, praising Dhillon’s calls for moving the RNC’s headquarters out of Washington, D.C.

“We’ve had three substandard election cycles in a row, 18, 20 and 22. And I would say of all three of those 22 was probably the worst given the the political environment of a very unpopular president […] That is an environment that’s tailor-made to make big gains in the House and the Senate and state houses across the country,” DeSantis said. “And yet, that didn’t happen.”

“We even lost ground in the U.S. Senate. And so, you know, I think we need a change. I think we need to get some new blood in the RNC. I like what Harmeet Dhillon has said about getting the RNC out of D.C.”

The governor questioned why the headquarters of the RNC remains in deep-blue Washington, D.C.

“It’s more democrat than San Francisco is. So, I think you get it in real parts of the country. You attract people who want to want to live in those parts of the country, not D.C. insiders, but I do think we need some fresh thinking,” he said.

DeSantis called for more involvement from “grassroots Republicans” to bolster volunteer hours and donations.

Sen. Rick Scott also gave his opinion, thanking McDaniel for efforts to elect Republicans in Florida, who was elected to the position after Donald Trump’s presidential victory in 2016.

“@GOPChairwoman has played a major role in helping turn Florida red and fighting for conservative values across the country. Thank you Ronna for all you’ve done to help elect strong Republicans in the Sunshine state!” he said.