RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel confirms she is stepping down
The longtime leader of the Republican National Committee confirmed Monday that she is leaving her post before the 2024 election, as the party faces a cash crunch and people close to former president Donald Trump attempt to wrest control of the organization.
Ronna McDaniel, who was elected as chair in 2017 after running Trump’s successful 2016 campaign in Michigan, will step down on March 8, she said in a statement.
McDaniel, whose resignation was expected, said it has been “the honor and privilege of my life to serve” in the role.
“I have decided to step aside at our spring training on March 8 in Houston to allow our nominee to select a chair of their choosing,” McDaniel said in the statement. The RNC “has historically undergone change once we have a nominee, and it has always been my intention to honor that tradition. I remain committed to winning back the White House and electing Republicans up and down the ballot in November.”
McDaniel won her fourth term - a record - in 2023 and expected to remain in the job until 2025. But she faced a groundswell of criticism from the grass roots of the Republican Party - which was eventually echoed by Trump, who originally defended her.
RNC co-chair Drew McKissick also announced Monday that he would step aside early next month.
The moves came weeks after Trump said changes were coming at the RNC and suggested in a Fox Business interview that he had lost faith in McDaniel, whom he had assiduously defended amid widespread criticism of her from parts of his movement.
Trump has said he favors Michael Whatley, chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, and his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, for co-chair, as he seeks to exert control over the party before the November election. Trump’s endorsement all but guarantees their rise, though technically the committee’s 168 members must decide.
McDaniel was overwhelmingly reelected in 2023 after some critics called for her to be deposed following the party’s disappointing performance in the 2022 midterm elections.
McDaniel was well-liked among the 168 members but drew extensive criticism from agitators on the right, who attacked her for insufficient fundraising and claimed that she was not loyal to Trump.
McDaniel ran for a fourth term against the advice of some leading Republicans and advisers.
McDaniel, the niece of Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), stopped using the Romney name after the 2016 election. She comes from a storied history in Republican politics and was viewed as a bridge between Trump and the party’s more establishment, corporate class. She was well-liked by some of the party’s top donors, including hotelier Steve Wynn.