Republican National Committee

The 1856 Republican National Convention appointed the first RNC. It consisted of one member from each state and territory to serve for four years. Each national committee since then has followed the precedent of equal representation for each state or territory, regardless of population. From 1924 to 1952, there was a national committeeman and national committeewoman from each state and U.S. possession, and from Washington, D.C. In 1952, committee membership was expanded to include the state party chairs of states that voted Republican in the preceding presidential election, have a Republican majority in their congressional delegation (U.S. representatives and senators), or have Republican governors. By 1968, membership reached 145. As of 2011, the RNC has 168 members.^[8]

While a number of the chairs of the RNC have been state governors, the only person to have chaired the RNC and later become U.S. president is George H. W. Bush. During Bush's time as RNC chair, Spiro Agnew was being investigated for corruption, which would later lead to Agnew's resignation as vice president. Bush assisted, at the request of Nixon and Agnew, in getting John Glenn Beall Jr., the U.S. Senator from Maryland, to pressure his brother, George Beall the U.S. Attorney in Maryland, to shut down the investigation into Agnew. Attorney Beall ignored the pressure.^[9]

In 2013, the RNC began an outreach campaign towards the American youth and minority voters, after studies showed these groups generally perceived that the Republican Party did not care about their concerns.^[10]

During the presidency of Donald Trump, the RNC showed staunch loyalty to President Trump, even at times when prominent Republicans did not. Under Ronna McDaniel's leadership, the RNC ran ads for Trump's 2020 campaign as early as 2018, put numerous Trump campaign workers and affiliates on the RNC payroll, spent considerable funds at Trump-owned properties, covered his legal fees in the Russian interference investigation, hosted Trump's Fake News Awards, and criticized Trump critics within the Republican Party.^[11] Two days after the January 6th riot at the Capitol following the controversial 2020 presidential election results, the RNC held an event where members expressed loyalty to the President.^[12]

In February 2022, the RNC censured two Republican representatives, Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, for their participation in the United States House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the US Capitol; the censure statement described the committee as a "Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse."^[13] The censure of sitting congressmembers, and particularly the description of the January 6 events as "legitimate political discourse", received bipartisan criticism from politicians and media.^[14][15]

The Republican National Committee's main function is to assist the Republican Party of the United States. It helps to promote the Republican political platform and the "party brand" or image. It helps coordinate fundraising and election strategy.

It is also responsible for organizing and running the Republican National Convention.

According to Jim Nicholson, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee:

“The party can’t coordinate with these Super PACs and neither can the campaigns so there’s a lot more chaos . . . .And the party structure clearly has a diminished role because they don’t have the resources they used to have.”^[16]

The current chair of the Republican National Committee is Michael Whatley, since March 8, 2024. Whatley was previously chair of the North Carolina Republican Party from 2019 to 2024.^[17][18]

The previous chair of the Republican National Committee was Ronna McDaniel, serving from 2017 to 2024. McDaniel was chair of the Michigan Republican Party from 2015 to 2017.^[19]

In January 2019, Thomas O. Hicks Jr. was elected co-chairman of the RNC. Hicks has a strong connection to former President Trump's campaigns and policy initiatives, having served as chairman of the America First Action PAC and America First Policies, and as national finance co-chairman for Donald J. Trump for President.^[19]

Similar committees to the RNC exist in each U.S. state and most U.S. counties. The RNC also organizes volunteer groups for specific interests, such as the Black Republican Activists, GOP Hispanics, RNC Women (not to be confused with National Federation of Republican Women), GOP Faith, Asian Pacific Americans, Young Leaders and Veterans & Military Families.^[19]

Other national leaders

• Treasurer: Kristin Crosbie, also on the RNC Executive Committee and Rules Committee
• Secretary: Vicki Drummond
• General Counsel: Michael Whatley
• Senate Republican Leader: Mitch McConnell
• Senate Republican Whip: John Thune
• Senate Republican Conference Chair: John Barrasso
• Senate Republican Policy Committee Chair: Joni Ernst
• Senate Republican Conference Vice Chairwoman: Shelley Moore Capito
• National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair: Steve Daines
• House Republican Conference Leader: Mike Johnson
• House Republican Floor Leader: Steve Scalise
• House Republican Whip: Tom Emmer
• House Republican Conference Chairwoman: Elise Stefanik
• House Republican Policy Committee Chairman: Gary Palmer

^[19]

List of Republican National Committee Chairs

#	Chair		Term	State[20]
1		Edwin Morgan	1856–1864	New York
2		Henry Raymond	1864–1866	New York
3		Marcus Ward	1866–1868	New Jersey
4		William Claflin	1868–1872	Massachusetts
5		Edwin Morgan	1872–1876	New York
6		Zachariah Chandler	1876–1879	Michigan
7		Donald Cameron	1879–1880	Pennsylvania
8		Marshall Jewell	1880–1883	Connecticut
9		Dwight Sabin	1883–1884	Minnesota
10		Benjamin Jones	1884–1888	New Jersey
11		Matthew Quay	1888–1891	Pennsylvania
12		James Clarkson	1891–1892	Iowa
13		William Campbell[21][22][23]	1892	Illinois
14		Thomas Carter	1892–1896	Montana
15		Mark Hanna	1896–1904	Ohio
		Henry Payne (Acting)	1904	Wisconsin
16		George Cortelyou	1904–1907	New York
17		Harry New	1907–1908	Indiana
18		Frank Hitchcock	1908–1909	Ohio
19		John Hill (Acting: 1909–1911)	1909–1912	Maine
20		Victor Rosewater	1912	Nebraska
21		Charles Hilles	1912–1916	New York
22		William Willcox	1916–1918	New York
23		Will Hays	1918–1921	Indiana
24		John Adams	1921–1924	Iowa
25		William Butler	1924–1928	Massachusetts
26		Hubert Work	1928–1929	Colorado
27		Claudius Huston	1929–1930	Tennessee
28		Simeon Fess	1930–1932	Ohio
29		Everett Sanders	1932–1934	Indiana
30		Henry Fletcher	1934–1936	Pennsylvania
31		John Hamilton	1936–1940	Kansas
32		Joseph Martin	1940–1942	Massachusetts
33		Harrison Spangler	1942–1944	Iowa
34		Herbert Brownell	1944–1946	New York
35		Carroll Reece	1946–1948	Tennessee
36		Hugh Scott	1948–1949	Pennsylvania
37		Guy Gabrielson	1949–1952	New Jersey
38		Arthur Summerfield	1952–1953	Michigan
39		C. Wesley Roberts	1953	Kansas
40		Leonard Hall	1953–1957	New York
41		Meade Alcorn	1957–1959	Connecticut
42		Thruston Morton	1959–1961	Kentucky
43		William Miller	1961–1964	New York
44		Dean Burch	1964–1965	Arizona
45		Ray Bliss	1965–1969	Ohio
46		Rogers Morton	1969–1971	Maryland
47		Bob Dole	1971–1973	Kansas
48		George H. W. Bush	1973–1974	Texas
49		Mary Smith	1974–1977	Iowa
50		Bill Brock	1977–1981	Tennessee
51		Dick Richards	1981–1983	Utah
		Paul Laxalt (General Chair)	1983–1987	Nevada
52		Frank Fahrenkopf (National Chair)		Nevada
		Frank Fahrenkopf	1987–1989	Nevada
53		Lee Atwater	1989–1991	South Carolina
54		Clay Yeutter	1991–1992	Nebraska
55		Richard Bond	1992–1993	Missouri
56		Haley Barbour	1993–1997	Mississippi
57		Jim Nicholson	1997–2001	Colorado
58		Jim Gilmore	2001–2002	Virginia
59		Marc Racicot	2002–2004	Montana
60		Ed Gillespie	2004–2006	Virginia
61		Ken Mehlman	2006–2007	District of Columbia
		Mel Martínez (General Chair)	2007	Florida
62		Mike Duncan (National Chair)		Kentucky
			2007–2009
63		Michael Steele	2009–2011	Maryland
64		Reince Priebus	2011–2017	Wisconsin
65		Ronna Romney McDaniel	2017–2024	Michigan
66		Michael Whatley	2024–present	North Carolina

Elections

1993 election

  Candidate won majority of votes in the round

  Candidate secured a plurality of votes in the round

  Candidate withdrew

1997 election

  Candidate won majority of votes in the round

  Candidate secured a plurality of votes in the round

  Candidate withdrew

• Merrill and Norcross both dropped out after the fifth round, giving the chairmanship to Nicholson by acclamation.

2009 election

On November 24, 2008, Steele launched his campaign for the RNC chairmanship with the launching of his website.^[24] On January 30, 2009, Steele won the chairmanship of the RNC in the sixth round, with 91 votes to Dawson's 77.^[25]

Source: CQPolitics,^[26] and Poll Pundit.^[27]

  Candidate won majority of votes in the round

  Candidate secured a plurality of votes in the round

  Candidate withdrew

On announcing his candidacy to succeed RNC Chairman Duncan, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele described the party as being at a crossroads and not knowing what to do. "I think I may have some keys to open the door, some juice to turn on the lights," he said.^[28]

Six people ran for the 2009 RNC Chairmanship: Steele, Ken Blackwell, Mike Duncan, Saul Anuzis, Katon Dawson and Chip Saltsman. After Saltsman's withdrawal, there were only five candidates during the hotly contested balloting January 30, 2009.

After the third round of balloting that day, Steele held a small lead over incumbent Mike Duncan of Kentucky, with 51 votes to Duncan's 44. Shortly after the announcement of the standings, Duncan dropped out of contention without endorsing a candidate.^[29] Ken Blackwell, the only other African-American candidate, dropped out after the fourth ballot and endorsed Steele, though Blackwell had been the most socially conservative of the candidates and Steele had been accused of not being "sufficiently conservative." Steele picked up Blackwell's votes.^[30] After the fifth round, Steele held a ten-vote lead over Katon Dawson, with 79 votes, and Saul Anuzis dropped out.^[31] After the sixth vote, he won the chairmanship of the RNC over Dawson by a vote of 91 to 77.^[32]

Mississippi Governor and former RNC chair Haley Barbour has suggested the party will focus its efforts on congressional and gubernatorial elections in the coming years rather than the next presidential election. "When I was chairman of the Republican National Committee the last time we lost the White House in 1992 we focused exclusively on 1993 and 1994. And at the end of that time, we had both houses of Congress with Republican majorities, and we'd gone from 17 Republican governors to 31. So anyone talking about 2012 today doesn't have their eye on the ball. What we ought to worry about is rebuilding our party over the next year and particularly in 2010," Barbour said at the November 2008 Republican Governors conference.^[33]

2011 election

Michael Steele ran for re-election at the 2011 RNC winter meeting.^[34] Other candidates were Reince Priebus, Republican Party of Wisconsin Chairman, Ann Wagner, former Ambassador to Luxembourg, Saul Anuzis, former Republican Party Chairman of Michigan, and Maria Cino, former acting Secretary of Transportation under George W. Bush. Steele's critics increasingly called on him to step down as RNC Chair when his term ended in 2011. A debate for Chairman hosted by Americans for Tax Reform took place on January 3 at the National Press Club.^[35][36] The election for Chairman took place January 14 at the RNC's winter meeting with Reince Priebus winning on the seventh ballot after Steele and Wagner withdrew.

  Candidate won majority of votes in the round

  Candidate secured a plurality of votes in the round

  Candidate withdrew

2013–2023 elections

Priebus won re-election with near unanimity in the party's 2013 meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina.^[37] He was re-elected to a third term in 2015, setting him up to become the longest serving head of the party ever.^[38]

After winning in November 2016, President-elect Donald Trump designated Priebus as his White House Chief of Staff, to begin upon his taking office in January 2017; David Bossie of Maryland was seen as a potential next RNC chairman.^[39]

Trump then recommended Ronna Romney McDaniel as RNC Chairwoman and she was elected to that role by the RNC in January 2017. McDaniel was re-elected in 2019 and 2021.^[40] Mike Lindell announced that he would challenge McDaniel in 2023. Lindell accused McDaniel of not denying the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election forcefully enough, and criticized her for presiding over the RNC during three disappointing election years.^[41] McDaniel was re-elected in to a fourth term in January 2023, easily defeating Lindell and California RNC committeewoman Harmeet Dhillon.^[42]

  Candidate won majority of votes in the round

2024 election

On February 6, 2024, The New York Times reported that McDaniel intended to resign after the South Carolina Republican presidential primary held on February 24, 2024, following dissatisfaction from former president Donald Trump, who publicly supported North Carolina Republican Party chair Michael Whatley.^[43][44]

McDaniel confirmed these reports when, on February 26, 2024, she and Drew McKissick announced their resignations as chair and co-chair of the RNC effective on March 8, 2024.^[45] Later that same day, Micheal Whatley, chair of the North Carolina Republican Party, announced that he would seek the position of RNC chair.

Lara Trump, daughter-in-law of former president Donald Trump, also announced on February 28 that she would seek to succeed McKissick as co-chair of the RNC.^[46] Both Whatley and Trump gained the endorsement of former President Trump.

Whatley and Trump were both elected via acclamation as chair and vice-chair of the Republican National Committee on March 8, 2024.

Chair

Co-Chair

A collapsible list of the voting members of the Republican National Committee follows, as of March 2024^[update].^[47] The state chair, national committeeman and national committeewoman each receive one vote at RNC meetings and vote for RNC Chairmanship.

In February 2014, during the chairmanship of Reince Priebus, the RNC launched an in-house technology incubator called Para Bellum Labs.^[48] This new unit of the RNC was first headed by Azarias Reda, an engineer with a PhD in computer science from the University of Michigan. The effort is designed to help the party and its candidates bridge the technology gap. Para Bellum, translated from Latin, means "prepare for war."^[49]

In September 2019, McDaniel emailed Doug Manchester, whose nomination to become Ambassador to the Bahamas was stalled in the Senate, asking for $500,000 in donations to the Republican Party. Manchester responded, noting that his wife had given $100,000 and that his family would "respond" once he was confirmed by the Republican-led Senate to the ambassadorship. Manchester copied the email to aides of two U.S. senators whose support he needed to win confirmation. CBS News described McDaniel's action as a "possible pay-for-play scheme" for the ambassadorship.^[50][51] The San Diego Union-Tribune reported in May 2021 that a federal grand jury had issued a subpoena in a criminal investigation into Manchester's nomination, apparently focused on the RNC, McDaniel and RNC co-chair Tommy Hicks, "and possibly members of Congress". The Union-Tribune reported the investigation began in 2020.^[52]

• Democratic National Committee
• Green National Committee
• Libertarian National Committee
• Republicans Overseas

• Cotter, Cornelius P., and Bernard C. Hennessy, eds. Politics without Power: The National Party Committees (1964) excerpt
• Galvin, Daniel J. "The Transformation of Political Institutions: Investments in Institutional Resources and Gradual Change in the National Party Committees," Studies in American Political Development 26 (April 2012) 50–70; online
• Galvin, Daniel J. Presidential Party Building: Dwight D. Eisenhower to George W. Bush (Princeton UP, 2010).
• Goldman, Ralph M. The National party Chairmen and Committees: Factionalism at the Top (M.E. Sharpe, 1990)
• Heersink, Boris (2023). National Party Organizations and Party Brands in American Politics: The Democratic and Republican National Committees, 1912-2016. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oso/9780197695104.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-769514-2.
• Heersink, Boris. "Examining Democratic and Republican National Committee Party Branding Activity, 1953–2012." Perspectives on Politics (2021): 1–18.
• Heersink, Boris. "Trump and the party-in-organization: Presidential control of national party organizations." Journal of Politics 80.4 (2018): 1474–1482. online
• Heersink, Boris. "Party Brands and the Democratic and Republican National Committees, 1952–1976." Studies in American Political Development 32.1 (2018): 79–102. online
• Hejny, Jessica, and Adam Hilton. "Bringing contention in: a critical perspective on political parties as institutions." Studies in Political Economy 102.2 (2021): 161–181.
• Hennessy, Bernard C. "The Republican National Committee and Party Policy, 1920-1963." in Politics Without Power (Routledge, 2017) pp. 191–210.
• Herrnson, Paul S. "The Evolution of National Party Organizations," in The Oxford Handbook of American Political Parties and Interest Groups, edited by Louis Sandy Maisel and Jeffrey M. Berry. (Oxford University Press, 2010) pp. 245–264.
• Klinkner, Philip A. The Losing Parties: Out-Party National Committees, 1956-1993 (Yale University Press, 1994)
• Pavlov, Eugene, and Natalie Mizik. "Brand Political Positioning: Implications of the 2016 US Presidential Election." Available at SSRN 3696652 (2020). online

• Official Website
• Republican National Committee: News clippings and publications, 1932-65, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
• Para Bellum Labs Archived 2017-02-15 at the Wayback Machine