Jan. 27 (UPI) — The Republican National Committee is set to elect a new chair in California Friday, with incumbent Ronna McDaniel facing a surprise challenge.
McDaniel, who has served as the chair of the committee since 2017, finds herself in a three-way race with a strong challenge from California attorney Harmeet Dhillon.
McDaniel had expected to win a new term handily, with more than 100 members pledging their support for her. She needs just 85 votes from eligible voting members to win the seat.
However, the vote will be held in Dhillon’s home state with party members still steaming over failing to win the U.S. Senate in the mid-term elections, along with failing to gain a larger majority in the House.
Dhillon works as an attorney for former President Donald Trump, who decided not to endorse anyone in the RNC race after throwing his support behind McDaniel in 2016. Heading into Friday’s vote Dhillon dismissed McDaniel’s support, saying some voters on her list are quietly backing her.
“I have an estimate, but I’m not sharing that information publicly because some of those people want to stay private,” Dhillon told ABC News. “That said, several people are privately committed to us, and I’m picking up votes — several a day.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a possible candidate for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024, shook things up further on the eve of the vote as he backed Dhillon in an interview on The Charlie Kirk Show.
“We’ve had three substandard election cycles in a row, ’18, ’20, and ’22, and I’d say ’22 was the worst,” DeSantis told Kirk. “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.”
While acknowledging that DeSantis’ comments were “not an endorsement” Dhillon told CBS News she was still grateful for his support.
“I’m gratified that a party leader of Gov. DeSantis’ stature recognizes the problem,” she said. “Recognizing the problem was the first step in fixing your problem. So, I hope to work with leaders across the party spectrum.”
MyPillow owner Mike Lindell, who is facing a defamation lawsuit from voting machine maker U.S. Dominion over accusations that it rigged the 2020 election against Trump, is also running but is not considered a serious threat to McDaniel.