2023 Republican National Committee chairmanship election

The 2023 Republican National Committee (RNC) chairmanship election was held on January 27, 2023, in the United States, to determine the next chairman of the Republican National Committee.

2023 Republican National Committee chairmanship election

← 2021 January 27, 2023 (2023-01-27) 2024 →

Candidate Ronna McDaniel Harmeet Dhillon Caucus vote 111 51 Percentage 66.8% 30.7%   Candidate Mike Lindell Lee Zeldin^[a] Caucus vote 4 1 Percentage 2.4% 0.1%

Chairwoman before election Ronna McDaniel Elected Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel

Incumbent Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel was reelected to an unprecedented fourth term in office.^[1] This was the first chairman election with multiple candidates since 2013.

Under RNC rules, three members from each state and U.S. territory (the state or territory's party chair, one committeeman, and one committeewoman) cast ballots for chair, accounting for 168 votes, of which a majority is 85.^[2]

Campaign

During the campaign, it was reported that McDaniel told RNC members that she would be best positioned to prevent Donald Trump from mounting a third party candidacy should he lose the 2024 Republican presidential primary.^[3] According to Politico, Dhillon's campaign privately reached out to 'pro-Trump' and 'anti-Trump' factions of the RNC for support.^[4]

Trump declined to endorse either McDaniel or Dhillon, and indicated he has a positive opinion of both contenders.^[5] Florida governor Ron DeSantis praised Dhillon's campaign, though Dhillon stated that his comments were "not an endorsement."^[6]

In January 2023, Dhillon reportedly faced a whisper campaign from McDaniel and supporters of Mike Lindell focusing on her Sikh faith. On January 11, 2023, McDaniel disavowed the attacks, citing her own minority Mormon faith.^[7][8]

Candidates

Nominated

• Harmeet Dhillon, Civil Rights Attorney, RNC National Committeewoman for California (2016–Present), Chair of National Republican Lawyers Association, and former Vice Chair of the California Republican Party^[9][10]
• Mike Lindell, CEO of My Pillow, Inc., advisor to former president Donald Trump.^[11]
• Ronna McDaniel, Chair of the Republican National Committee (2017–Present)^[12]

Results

On January 27, 2023, McDaniel was successfully re-elected RNC chair on the first ballot.^[13][14]

Candidate	Round 1
Ronna McDaniel	111
Harmeet Dhillon	51
Mike Lindell	4
Lee Zeldin	1

  Candidate won majority of votes in the round

Notes

1. Not formally nominated

References

1. Lerer, Lisa; Weisman, Jonathan (January 27, 2023). "Republicans Re-elect Head of the R.N.C. After a Heated Challenge". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
2. "Southern states rebel against RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel". NBC. January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
3. "RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel says she can stop Trump from forming third party: Report". Washington Examiner. January 20, 2023. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
4. "RNC chair challenger looks to Never Trumpers for a boost". POLITICO. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
5. Schonfeld, Zach (December 18, 2022). "Trump on race for RNC chair: 'I like them both'". The Hill. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
6. "DeSantis may just have made the Republican National Committee chair race a lot more competitive". CBS News. January 26, 2023. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
7. Natalie, Allison (January 11, 2023). "Whisper campaign about RNC chair candidate's Sikh faith roils campaign". Politico. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
8. Caputo, Marc (January 11, 2023). "Harmeet Dhillon addresses 'concerns that have been raised' about her Sikh faith in RNC chair race". NBC News. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
9. Isenstadt, Alex. "Ronna McDaniel set to get new opponent for RNC post". POLITICO. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
10. Alic, Haris (December 5, 2022). "Trump-linked lawyer Harmeet Dhillon weighing bid to replace McDaniel as RNC chair". Fox News. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
11. Teh, Cheryl. "Mike Lindell is running to lead the Republican National Committee and unseat longtime foe Ronna McDaniel". Business Insider. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
12. "RNC chair Ronna McDaniel to seek fourth term steering national committee - WFIN Local News". wfin.com. November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
13. Lahut, Jake; Petrizzo, Zachary (January 27, 2023). "Mike Lindell Swore He'd Win the RNC Chair Race. He Got Smothered". Daily Beast. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
14. Lerner, Lisa; Weisman, Jonathan (January 27, 2023). "Republicans Re-elect Head of the R.N.C. After a Heated Challenge". New York Times. Retrieved January 27, 2023.