For Republicans, the months after the 2022 midterms have been consumed with a fair amount of introspection — and point-finding — about why the results were so disappointing for the party.
Disappointment has colored the look ahead to 2024 as leaders, officials and activists wonder who will lead the Republican Party at the top of the presidential ticket and the Republican National Committee.
Inside a glitzy hotel in the Southern California enclave of Dana Point on Friday, the second question will be answered as RNC President Ronna McDaniel looks to show that, despite the midterm results, she is in the best position to help the party win next year. .
McDaniel is trying to fend off a challenge from Harmeet Dhillon, an RNC member from California who heads the National Association of Republican Lawyers, as well as a remote offer from My Pillow founder and top election conspirator Mike Lindell. The secret ballot will take place during the open-to-press portion of the RNC’s three-day winter meeting, which begins on Wednesday. The meeting schedule shows a candidate forum scheduled for Wednesday.
RNC officials will also discuss upcoming debates, rules and resolutions for the upcoming primary and general elections. Party An ongoing audit of the last election is likely to emerge, but the main event will be the vote on McDaniel’s bid to lead the RNC for a fourth two-year term.
McDaniel, who was handpicked by then-President Donald Trump to the post, has faced criticism from some Republicans and conservative media figures for the party’s lackluster results in November. That includes his main challenger, Dhillon, who has argued that the first step Republicans need to get back on track to win in the next election cycle is to replace McDaniel.
But McDaniel, who launched his re-election bid last year with an endorsement list of more than 100 of the RNC’s 168 members, has argued that it is better to set the RNC up for future success by pointing to the engagement efforts and initiatives that According to her, they have borne fruit for the party. McDaniel has also argued that while she may lead the RNC, He has nothing to say in the choice of candidates or in the conduct of their campaigns, indicating that they believe that the quality of the candidates was the party’s main problem at the polls in 2022.
Party chairmen often come under scrutiny when their party enters the wilderness, and with a slim and vociferous majority in the House and questions about how Trump will fare in 2024 after his endorsement shortfalls in the fall, the Republican Party is looking for answers.
In this scenario, McDaniel has become a favorite target of conservative activists who seek change but avoid confronting any role the former president or abortion policy played in the midterm elections.
Before the annual winter caucus, state and local Republican activists led a kind of Sunbelt uprising against McDaniel that stretched from Arizona to Florida, where state parties either approved or considered casting votes of no confidence in her. Meanwhile, an RNC official has formally accused a McDaniel ally of engaging in «religious fanaticism» directed at Dhillon’s Sikh faith when discussing the party’s presidential race.
But cold math shows McDaniel with a sizeable lead over Dhillon: McDaniel has the public backing of more than 100 RNC members, far more than the majority needed to retain his seat on Friday, compared to Dhillon, who has won backed by about 30 .
«This has really been member-driven,» Michael Whatley, chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, told NBC News last year, saying he signed a letter for McDaniel without hesitation after the November election because she has responded to the needs of leaders.
«For me, it wasn’t close,» he said. «Every time I called out to her, the answer was yes. I’m not surprised people rallied behind her or around her as quickly as they did.»