Harmeet Dhillon, a state party leader and San Francisco attorney whose clients include former President Trump, failed in her effort to oust McDaniel, in a 111-51 vote at the party’s winter meeting at a lush seaside resort in Dana Point.
“We’ve heard the grassroots,” McDaniel said after she won reelection, adding that they also listened to the supporters of Dhillon and MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, who received four votes. “With us united and all of us going together, the Democrats are going to hear us in 2024.”
Dhillon said that while she was disappointed in the result, she hoped the party takes seriously the concerns of the grassroots activists who supported her bid.
“If we go back to our homes and ignore those messages, I think it’s at our peril,” she said. “I’m committed to healing and coming together with folks but at the end of the day, if our party is perceived as totally out of touch with the grassroots, which I think some may take away from this outcome, we have some work to do.”
The RNC, an insular body that operates largely outside of public view, comprises 168 committee members from across the country who wield notable political power in shaping the party’s political agenda.
Though now often usurped by well-funded independent political groups, the RNC is the official fundraising arm for national Republicans. In the 2020 presidential election, it spent $834 million, according to the nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks electoral finances. The committee makes key decisions, such as deciding where the party holds its presidential nominating convention and crafting the party’s platform.
The battle between McDaniel and Dhillon, both vocal Trump supporters, did not reflect a divide over the former president, who has announced that he plans to run in 2024 and remains an influential force in his party’s politics. Trump publicly remained neutral in the race between the two women, with whom he has close ties.
Rather, the leadership contest was largely a debate over the party’s future after its lackluster showing in recent elections — being routed in the 2018 midterms, losing the White House in 2020 and its paltry performance in 2022, when most analysts predicted a red wave. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, widely expected to run for president in 2024, pointed to those losses when he said he appreciated Dhillon’s approach on Thursday morning.
“I think we need a change, and I think we need to get some new blood in the RNC,” he said on the Charlie Kirk show.
The race grew bitter in recent weeks, with allegations of backroom dealing over the awarding of lucrative RNC contracts and committee appointments, mudslinging about the character of the candidates’ advisors and ugly questions about Dhillon’s Sikh faith.