| Founded | 1856 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Key people | Reince Priebus, Chairman Sharon Day, Co-Chairman Tony Parker Treasurer |
| Website | www.gop.org |
The Republican National Committee (RNC) is an American political committee that provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is also responsible for organizing and running the Republican National Convention. Similar committees exist in every U.S. state and most U.S. counties, although in some states party organization is structured by congressional district, allied campaign organizations being governed by a national committee. Reince Priebus is the current RNC Chairman.
The RNC's main counterpart is the Democratic National Committee.
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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 convention 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.[1]
The only person to have chaired the RNC and later become U.S. president is George H.W. Bush. A number of the chairs of the RNC have been state governors.
| Candidate | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haley Barbour | 60 | 66 | 90 |
| Spence Abraham | 47 | 52 | 57 |
| Bo Callaway | 22 | 19 | 18 |
| John Ashcroft | 26 | 20 | Withdrew |
| Craig Berkman | 10 | 8 | Withdrew |
| Candidate | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Nicholson | 23 | 30 | 38 | 65 | 74 | * |
| David Norcross | 41 | 46 | 47 | 50 | 47 | Withdrew |
| Steve Merrill | 42 | 42 | 43 | 46 | 43 | Withdrew |
| John S. Herrington | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | Withdrew | |
| Tom Pauken | 22 | 24 | 21 | Withdrew | ||
| Chuck Yob | 17 | 18 | 12 | Withdrew | ||
| Bob Bennett | 15 | Withdrew |
On November 24, 2008 Steele launched his campaign for the RNC chairmanship with the launching of his website.[4] On January 30, 2009, Steele won the chairmanship of the RNC in the sixth round, with 91 votes to Dawson's 77.[5]
Source: CQPolitics,[6] and Poll Pundit.[7]
| Candidate | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Steele | 46 | 48 | 51 | 60 | 79 | 91 |
| Katon Dawson | 28 | 29 | 34 | 62 | 69 | 77 |
| Saul Anuzis | 22 | 24 | 24 | 31 | 20 | Withdrew |
| Ken Blackwell | 20 | 19 | 15 | 15 | Withdrew | |
| Mike Duncan | 52 | 48 | 44 | 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.[8]
Six men 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.[9] 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.[10] After the fifth round, Steele held a ten vote lead over Katon Dawson, with 79 votes, and Saul Anuzis dropped out.[11] After the sixth vote, he won the chairmanship of the RNC over Dawson by a vote of 91 to 77.[12]
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.[13]
Michael Steele ran for re-election at the 2011 RNC winter meeting.[14] 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. [15][16] 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 | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | Round 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reince Priebus | 45 | 52 | 54 | 58 | 67 | 80 | 97 |
| Saul Anuzis | 24 | 22 | 21 | 24 | 32 | 37 | 43 |
| Maria Cino | 32 | 30 | 28 | 29 | 40 | 34 | 28 |
| Ann Wagner | 23 | 27 | 32 | 28 | 28 | 17 | Withdrew |
| Michael Steele | 44 | 37 | 33 | 28 | Withdrew |
Sharon Day is the current RNC Co-Chairman. [17] Mary Heitman is the current Finance Director.[18] Angela Sailor is the current Director of Coalitions. [19] The communications staff is led by communications director Sean Spicer, press secretary Kirsten Kukowski and deputy communications director Tyler Brown, and added two new regional press secretaries and a new specialty media press secretary in mid-2011.[20]