‘Stepping Up’: Harmeet Dhillon Announces Bid To Replace McDaniel As RNC Chair

Lawyer Harmeet Dhillon announced a challenge to Ronna McDaniel to chair the Republican National Committee on Fox News Monday night.

“I am going to announce tonight that actually I am going to run for RNC chair and the reason is that, to play off a famous catch phrase, Republicans are tired of losing and I think that we need to radically reshape our leadership in order to win,” Dhillon told host Tucker Carlson. “We can’t keep running elections like we did in the 90s and 2000s.” 

“We really have to modernize to compete with the Democrats, dollar for dollar in the ways they fundraise, the ways they deliver their ballots to the ballot boxes, our messaging needs to be fresh and positive and not just reactive to news cycles and what the Democrats are doing,” Dhillon continued. “And I think that the party needs to realize that the party has become a populist party, the base of the party demands populist messages that speak to them.”

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Republicans underperformed expectations in the Nov. 8 midterms, with notable losses including that of Dr. Mehmet Oz to Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and retired general Don Bolduc, who failed to unseat Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire. McDaniel claimed that the GOP did well in the midterms during a Nov. 9 appearance on Fox News.

Dhillon, who chairs the National Republican Lawyers Association and who serves as a state committeeman on the Republican National Committee, told Carlson she felt motivated to run after the midterm disappointments.

“After three successive rounds of really disappointing results, Tucker, I’m a member of the RNC and no other member is stepping up to challenge leadership and our current leadership has never been challenged for the chair job and I think that challenge and competition is very good,” Dhillon said.

“I’m offering to take a giant step back from my law firm and my nonprofit to do this,” Dhillon said. “It’s a big sacrifice but I think it’s important for our country that I love so much as a first-generation immigrant.”

A person with McDaniel’s re-election effort referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to an endorsement letter signed by 107 members of the RNC.

“Ronna McDaniel has grown our Party from the grassroots up: from building a permanent national ground game and establishing a year-round Election Integrity operation to expanding minority outreach and transferring more funds than ever to all 56 states and territories. I am proud to join the nearly two-thirds of RNC members in endorsing her re-election and I look forward to working alongside her to strengthen our Party and country for the next two years,” North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Michael Whatley, one of the signatories of the endorsement letter dated Dec. 5., said.

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