Dem
50
Ties
1
GOP
49
Speaking of jockeying for position, RNC Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel had hinted at retirement, but now says she plans to stand for another term. She reportedly has 100 of the 168 RNC votes she needs, and is working the phones to round up the rest.
It is very strange that she's even a candidate for reelection, much less that she has a chance to win. The Republicans have had three bad elections in a row, and normally one or two of those is fatal to a party chair, much less three. But the anti-RRM faction, which definitely exists, doesn't have a candidate. And as we point out often, including in the previous item, you can't beat someone with no one. There is talk of trying to recruit Lee Zeldin after his impressive showing in New York, but it is not clear if he is interested.
If McDaniel does win reelection and then finish her term, she'll be the second-longest-serving chair in Republican Party history. Actually, she'll knock her predecessor, Reince Priebus, down to the third slot on the list. Clearly, the modern Republican Party doesn't like to change horses very often. The only longer-serving RNC chair than Priebus is the first one, Edwin Morgan, who led the party from 1856 to 1864. Even more impressive, he was also a Union general during his last 2 years as chair. The Republicans of Morgan's era had not yet figured out that you can totally get out of military service if you can just find a doctor who will say you have bone spurs in your ankle. (Z)