Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel announced on Monday that she will step down next month as chairwoman, after having served as chair of the RNC since 2017. She was the second woman to lead the RNC.
McDaniel, 50, said in a statement that she will step down on March 8 shortly after the Super Tuesday primaries to allow the party’s presidential nominee to select the next head of the committee. The statement read: “Some of my proudest accomplishments include firing Nancy Pelosi, winning the popular vote in 2022, creating an Election Integrity Department, building the committee’s first small dollar grassroots donor program, strengthening our state parties through our Growing Republican Organizations to Win program, expanding the Party through minority outreach at our community centers, and launching Bank Your Vote to get Republicans to commit to voting early. I have decided to step aside at our Spring Training on March 8 in Houston to allow our nominee to select a Chair of their choosing. The RNC has historically undergone change once we have a nominee and it has always been my intention to honor that tradition.”
McDaniel, the niece of former presidential candidate and Sen. Mitt Romney, was chair of the Michigan GOP in 2016 where she was credited with helping Trump win the state. Trump hand-picked McDaniel after the 2016 election to serve as RNC chair as Reince Priebus left the post to become his first chief of staff at the White House, and she was re-elected to a fourth term in January 2023, defeating challengers California attorney Harmeet Dhillon and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. In her statement McDaniel thanked Trump for “the opportunity to lead our party …It has been the honor and privilege of my life to serve the Republican National Committee for seven years as chairwoman to elect Republicans and grow our party.”
McDaniel’s announcement Monday cames on the heels of Saturday’s South Carolina primary where Trump won 59.8% of the vote, defeating Nikki Haley. It also comes less than two weeks after Trump endorsed North Carolina GOP chairman Michael Whatley to be the next chairman of the RNC, his daughter-in-law Lara Trump to be co-chair and top campaign aide Chris LaCivita to be the party’s chief operating officer.
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