Washington, DC: Harmeet Dhillon, a prominent Indian-American attorney failed in her bid to win the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee (RNC) to Ronna McDaniel who was reelected in a high-profile and combustible election that could hurt the party as it prepares for the race for the White House in 2024.
Dhillon, 54, a former California Republican Party Co-Chair, contested against incumbent McDaniel, whom former US president Donald Trump tapped as RNC chair in 2016.
McDaniel, 49, was comfortably re-elected in a secret ballot on Friday for the second consecutive term, as she received 111 votes against Dhillon’s 51.
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell received four votes.
RNC is the top governing body of the Republican Party led by Trump. The meeting of the RNC was held at a luxury seaside resort in southern California’s Orange County. With the victory, McDaniel will serve a rare fourth term as chair of the RNC, becoming the longest-serving RNC chair since the Civil War.
The defeat of Dhillon is also seen as a setback for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who of late has emerged as a formidable challenger to Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential primary. DeSantis had endorsed Dhillon at the last minute.
“After a hard-fought effort, we, unfortunately, came up-shot. However, the RNC will be better for the tough conversations that were desperately needed about how to reform the RNC to win elections and earn the trust of our voters, activists and donors,” Dhillon said in a statement after the election results were declared.
“A brief thought about the RNC Chair race. It’s been an honor to hear from all the Americans who reached out to share their views about the party’s leadership. While we are disappointed with the results, we started a movement & I will keep working to elect Republicans nationwide!!” she tweeted.
Image courtesy of (Image courtesy: Republic World)