DANA POINT, Calif. — The 168-member Republican National Committee will elect its chairman on Friday, after a contentious months-long campaign to determine who is best positioned to put the party on a strong course by 2024 after a disappointing showing in the midterm elections.
But members gathered here for the party’s winter meeting say that once all the votes are counted, tensions are unlikely to subside quickly.
“After this is over tomorrow, it’s not over,” said Jonathan Barnett, an Arkansas RNC committee member who is backing challenger Harmeet Dhillon to lead the match. “It’s going to take some time to do some rebuilds, and Harmeet still has a strong voice. All of us who support Harmeet will not leave.»
Heading into Friday’s secret ballot, Speaker Ronna McDaniel is the favorite to win a fourth term at the helm of the party, putting her on track to become the longest-serving Republican female speaker since the 19th century. Shortly after the midterms, she published a letter citing the support of more than 100 members, a show of force that led to another potential candidate, then-Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York, to opt out of running for president.
But Dhillon, a California RNC committee member, has seen her candidacy boosted by grassroots activists and conservative influencers who have insisted on the need for a change at the party’s head after three consecutive disappointing elections for Republicans, particularly in districts and swing states. He has the public backing of about 30 NCR members, but Dhillon and his allies insist he’s been able to win over a portion of the undecided members while eating away at McDaniel’s initial roster of supporters, and he’s gotten a big boost in the last 24 hours. Hours after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis posted a video praising their efforts and calling for «change.»
Supporters of McDaniel and Dhillon who spoke to NBC News acknowledged that Dhillon faces tough odds to oust McDaniel. Those battles, however, have brought party divisions to center stage as Republicans try to chart their future with the 2024 presidential primaries soon to gather steam.
For nearly two months, RNC members, particularly those who back McDaniel, have been inundated with emails from Dhillon supporters asking them to back the insurgents’ candidacy. Ahead of the first disputed leadership vote in more than a decade, tensions here came to a head Thursday during a members-only meeting that ran more than an hour over its allotted time.
Speaking to reporters afterwards, Dhillon, who vowed to support the RNC regardless of the outcome of Friday’s vote, described the meeting as a «pretty lively discussion» about the party’s future.
“I believe in conversation and [a] constructive exchange of conflicting ideas,” he said. “The fact that we haven’t had that on the Republican National Committee in a leadership election for 12 years [means] we are having a lot of bottled up conflicts here and it is all coming to the surface. I’m glad we had that closed-door meeting. It was controversial.»
Dhillon and his supporters, who accused McDaniel and his team of sidelining them at the winter meeting, argued that the RNC needs to be more transparent, particularly regarding spending and resource allocation. She also wants the party to fight Democrats more aggressively in the courts and be active in targeting candidates who may hurt the party’s chances of winnable races. McDaniel and her patrons say the criticisms of her leadership are misguided and point to the successful initiatives she has launched, her fundraising prowess and her working relationships with state parties.
“At the end of the day, Ronna just did a good job leading the party,” said Ben Proto, chairman of the Connecticut Republican Party, noting his fundraising and RNC programs that he has started across the country.
He added that after Friday’s vote, “it will be incumbent on us to go back to our states and have those conversations with people who say, ‘Look, this was the outcome, this is where we are, you have a choice here, you can support the party, support our candidates or withdraw.’”
«I can tell you that the Democrats are not going to walk away from their party, they are not going to walk away from their candidates because they don’t like the national president,» he added. «That’s not going to happen. And if we want to win elections, we need to understand that we’re not going to agree on everything all the time, except that we’re better off when the Republicans are in charge.»
Proto said he and others were looking forward to Friday afternoon so the party could move past the drama surrounding the race for the seat and start working to pick Republicans «up and down the ballot for the next two years.» years».
Others echoed his sentiment.
“I don’t like all the drama,” Steve Scheffler, an Iowa NCR committee member and president of the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition that backs McDaniel, told NBC News, adding that he was hopeful the party would come together. after the vote. “I think Ronna is still the favorite, but you know it’s a secret ballot. So I wouldn’t be surprised if Harmeet wins, but I don’t think it’s likely.
Dhillon’s candidacy was endorsed Thursday by DeSantis, who polls show is a leading alternative to former President Donald Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential primary race, after he called for a change to the RNC in an interview with conservative activist Charlie Kirk. , lamenting recent disappointments at the ballot box The comments gave the appearance that the RNC leadership race served as a proxy battle between DeSantis and Trump, who, though he has not endorsed McDaniel, hand-picked her for the job.
Dhillon was quick to mute the governor’s comments, expressing gratitude for the sentiment but clarifying that DeSantis was not giving her an official endorsement.
“It’s gratifying to see our party leaders listening to the rank and file,” he said. «And I hope that the leaders of this party here, the other 167 of this party, also listen to what the grassroots are saying and reflect it as well.»
The members said that while DeSantis carried weight among the RNC members, his comments likely came too late in the process to swing the vote.
«He’s highly regarded and carries a lot of weight here,» Bill Palatucci, a member of the New Jersey RNC committee backing Dhillon, told NBC News. «I just think he’s a little late to make a big impact on the vote.»
Barnett agreed, saying he wishes DeSantis had made the comments sooner. Still, he expressed concern that most RNC members chose to ignore the grassroots reaction to another McDaniel term.
“In all honesty, some of these people are probably going to lose their jobs,” he said, adding: “These Tories in a lot of these state parties, they’re aware of what’s going on and there will be some of them being replaced. How many, I don’t know. But I do believe that.»
«Some of these members,» he said, «either don’t believe it or don’t care.»