Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has endorsed removing Ronna McDaniel from the Republican National Committee chair position just ahead of the vote.
Former President Donald Trump has also declined to endorse McDaniel for another term.
“I think we need a change, and I think we need to get some new blood in the RNC,” DeSantis said during an interview with Charlie Kirk on Thursday. #BREAKING: Gov. Ron DeSantis praises Harmeet Dhillon (@pnjaban) in bid for RNC chair
"I think we need a change, I think we need to get some new blood in the RNC. I like what Harmeet Dhillon has said about getting the RNC out of DC [...] We need some fresh thinking." pic.twitter.com/Y5W78v4RC6
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) January 26, 2023
Harmeet Dhillon, a free speech attorney and RNC committeewoman from California, has the most momentum in her challenge against McDaniel being elected for a fourth term.
While DeSantis did not outright endorse her, he did allude to his support.
“I like what Harmeet Dhillon has said about getting the RNC outside of DC – why would you want to have your headquarters in the most Democrat city in America?” DeSantis said. “We’ve had three substandard election cycles in a row – ’18, ’20, and ’22 – and I would say of all three of those, ’22 was probably the worst given the political environment of a very unpopular President in Biden.”
“Huge majorities of the people think the country is going in the wrong direction. That is an environment that is tailor-made to make big gains in the House, in the Senate, and in State Houses all across the country, and yet that didn’t happen, and in fact, we even lost ground in the US Senate,” DeSantis continued.
The leadership election will take place on Friday in Dana Point, California.
According to a report from NBC News, McDaniel "is favored to win another term chairing the RNC — McDaniel is touting the endorsement of more than 100 members ahead of Friday's vote, where she'll need support from 85 on a secret ballot to win another term. Dhillon has the public support from at least 32 members of the committee, according to an NBC News Political Unit analysis of public statements, but her campaign hopes she can win more on a secret ballot."
