7 Things You Need To Know About Incoming RNC Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel



Written by Aaron Bandler

Ronna Romney McDaniel has officially been named as the new chair of the Republican National Committee.

“I am a mom from Michigan,” McDaniel said in Tuesday’s RNC meeting. “I am an outsider. And I am here to make Donald Trump and Republicans everywhere successful.”

McDaniel also criticized the Democrat Party as an “elite, coastal, redistributionist Party of the status quo” and hailed the Republican Party as “the national, opportunity for everyone, party of change.”

Here are seven things you need to know about McDaniel.

1. She is the niece of Mitt Romney. This is interesting because Romney was particularly critical of President-elect Donald Trump during the campaign, although he was in consideration to become the secretary of state in the Trump administration. McDaniel, on the other hand, has been supportive of Trump and was a Michigan delegate for Trump at the RNC. She also got her start in politics by working for her uncle’s presidential campaign in 2012 as Michigan’s political director.

2. McDaniel is credited for helping Trump win Michigan. McDaniel was tapped to head the Michigan state GOP in 2015 and she was key in laying down the groundwork for Trump’s victory in the state.

“We put together a ground game two years before — we had our Detroit office open three years before the election,” McDaniel told The Washington Times.

She also noted that the Michigan state GOP was able to raise $14 million during the election despite the fact that there were “no Senate or governor’s races, so not a lot of national party attention or investment.”

3. McDaniel was handpicked by Trump to chair the RNC. There were a number of candidates vying for the position of RNC chair, but Trump eventually threw his support behind McDaniel, which was key to getting her the position.

“I’m excited to have a highly effective leader in Ronna McDaniel as RNC Deputy Chair and I look forward to her serving as the Party’s Chairman in 2017,” Trump said in a December statement. “Ronna has been extremely loyal to our movement and her efforts were critical to our tremendous victory in Michigan, and I know she will bring the same passion to the Republican National Committee.”

McDaniel’s role in helping Trump win Michigan may have played a part in Trump supporting her, as Trump told her at a rally during his Thank You tour that “you and your people have done an incredible job.” However, the likely reason for Trump picking McDaniel was…

4. McDaniel was Reince Priebus’s choice to succeed him. As the Daily Wire has previously written:

 New York Mag has reported Priebus “has been an outspoken ally of McDaniel,” as McDaniel sits on the RNC’s 168-member committee, something Priebus wanted in his successor.

“Ronna has been a committed leader in our Party for years, and her leadership this cycle in helping President-elect Trump turn Michigan red for the first time since 1988 makes her an exceptional choice to serve as Deputy Chair,” Priebus said in a statement. “Ronna is an outstanding fundraiser, and her ability to drive support for our mission of electing Republicans up and down the ballot gives me full confidence that she will be able to continue building on the RNC’s success and organizational strength as we head into important elections in 2017 and 2018.”

Priebus is leaving his position as RNC chair to be Trump’s chief of staff, so Trump’s decision to endorse McDaniel for the position was likely a way for Trump to support his incoming chief of staff.

5. McDaniel will be the second female to ever chair the RNC. The first woman to serve as the RNC chair was Mary Louise Smith from 1974 to 1977.

McDaniel said she was “humbled” to be the second female RNC chair and will push back against the Democrats’ War on Women narrative.

“For far too long, Democrats have hailed themselves as the party of women,” McDaniel said. “As Republicans, we know their so-called monopoly on being the party of women is false, and it is a mindset I intend to change.”

6. McDaniel will help push the GOP in Trump’s populist direction. Saul Anuzis, who was the Michigan state GOP chair at one point, told The Washington Times that McDaniel “actually understands the new Trump coalition of culturally conservative populists.”

“She’s shown the Trump coalition can win, and if in a presidential election you can win in Michigan as a Republican, you can win anywhere,” Anuzis said.

Anuzis referred to the Trump coalition as “Reagan Democrats” who “are the quintessential blue-collar, culturally conservative voters” who put Trump over the top in Michigan.

7. As RNC chair, McDaniel will be tasked with continuing what Priebus started. This is according to Cosmopolitan, which reported that the main aspects of McDaniel’s job will be “on fundraising and maintaining the nationwide data and field operation built during Priebus’ tenure.” She might not be on TV as much as her predecessor since Trump, as the de-facto head of the Republican Party, will garner most of the TV coverage, so her value as RNC chair will be as “more of a behind-the-scenes role.”


Article originally published at DailyWire.com.