McDaniel seeks to fend off RNC leadership challenge

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel is facing her clearest leadership challenge to date in the wake of her party’s disappointing midterm election results.

Much of the finger-pointing has been directed at McDaniel, who as RNC chairwoman has overseen election cycles where the party lost the House in 2018, lost the White House and Senate in 2020 and then failed to retake the Senate this past November and captured a more modest House majority than expected.

Still, McDaniel has racked up endorsements for another term from a majority of RNC members, as well as former RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway and Blake Masters, who lost his Senate bid in Arizona last month.

The process of choosing an RNC leader is designed to insulate an incumbent from an outside challenge, former party officials said, making it unlikely the organization will move on from McDaniel before 2024. But that hasn’t squashed dissent among some Republicans.