Despite some complaints that the Republicans didn't fare well in the 2022 elections and should consider new leadership, Ronna McDaniel is poised to win an unprecedented fourth two-year term as the party's national chair when the 168-member Republican National Committee holds its winter meetings, Jan. 25-27.
Sources close to McDaniel told Newsmax she has roughly 100 RNC members committed to her reelection.
But this has not stopped criticism of the chair from inside and outside the party over its so-so performance at the polls last month.
Since the midterm elections Nov. 8, GOP state committees in Arizona and Texas resoundingly passed resolutions calling for the Trump-appointed McDaniel to step down from the party helm and for new leadership to emerge.
"I'm going to support Harmeet [Dhillon] for RNC chairman," Louisiana Republican National Committeeman Roger Villere Jr. told Newsmax last week, referring to California's National Committeewoman Harmeet Dhillon, so far, the only announced opponent to McDaniel.
Villere added that he considered McDaniel "a three-time loser. We underperformed in three election cycles. As [legendary NFL coach] Bill Parcells said, 'You are what your record says.' "
Oklahoma's Republican National Committeewoman Pam Pollard told Newsmax last week that she "has been listening to the grass roots and I will vote their intentions. They very much want change, and that is why I will support Harmeet."
Privately, many RNC members have voiced criticism of McDaniel for her choice of consultants and vendors used by the party committee to orchestrate get-out-the-vote campaigns, online and TV advertising, and polling. They want a new chair to give the RNC a complete audit and bring in new consultants in an end to what they call "the old-boy network."
Under such circumstances, it was widely felt that New York Rep. Lee Zeldin, who lost a close race for governor of the Empire State, might emerge as the "anti-Ronna" and galvanize support. But last month, Zeldin decided not run after all. In so doing, the outgoing congressman made a strong call for McDaniel to step down and for new blood to flow at the RNC.
Whether California's Dhillon can bring that "new blood" to the party is uncertain. The daughter of Indian immigrants and a frequent fixture on Fox News, she is sometimes considered fiery and outspoken — even by her political allies.
Earlier this week, the Golden State's National Committeeman Shawn Steel sent out a mailing to RNC members noting he and Dhillon were close, but that the best move for her would be to be named RNC general counsel and to work with McDaniel.
For her part, McDaniel is personally well-liked by most of her party's committee members. Almost to a person, they call her by her first name and she is known to remember birthdays and anniversaries of the RNC and to make herself accessible when they want to see her.
Moreover, McDaniel has earned high marks for her fundraising prowess and performance on cable TV talk shows and social media — whether she is defending her party's insistence it will not participate in presidential debates unless networks adapt to change formats and choice of questioners or responding to the latest intraparty criticism from her uncle, 2012 Republican presidential nominee and Utah Sen. Mitt Romney.
As Republicans prepare for the genesis of the 2024 presidential nomination battle and another crack at taking control of the Senate (with only 10 GOP-held seats up for election), signs are strong that intraparty criticism of Ronna McDaniel aside, the RNC will re-elect her.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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