It does appear that Lee Zeldin will be running for the RNC Chair against Ronna McDaniel.
Politico reported today that he emailed committee members about his potential bid.
Here’s their reporting:
New York GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin is inching closer toward running for chair of the Republican National Committee, challenging current leader Ronna McDaniel.
Zeldin, whose strong performance in the New York governor’s race last week may have helped the GOP take back the House, emailed committee members Thursday about his potential bid.
The email, first obtained by POLITICO, said that he is “very seriously considering” running for leadership of the party.
“It is time for our party to retool, transform, win back the Presidency in 2024, expand our number of Republican held seats in Congress, and elect the maximum number of down ballot races across the country,” Zeldin said in the message. “The Republican Party needs to be all in to do everything in its power to save America.”
McDaniel, the current RNC chair, who is close to former president Donald Trump, told committee members this week that she is running for reelection. A person close to McDaniel said she has the pledged support of a majority of members.
In his email to RNC members, Zeldin wrote, “Not only should the Republican Party compete in all 50 states, and ensure we are driving up turnout within our base, but we also need to go to all communities no matter how blue they are, show up often, build relationships, and advance our proposals on education, upward economic mobility, housing, mental health, public safety, and more. This means making sure people know what we stand for, and not just what we are against.”
Glenn McCall, an RNC national committeeman from South Carolina, said in a statement that “there is no one better than Ronna McDaniel to keep our party united and best positioned to elect the next President of the United States and take back the Senate. The tremendous work the RNC has done under her leadership will help Republicans for decades to come.”
Zeldin has confirmed this via Twitter, quoting part of the email and linking to the Politico article:
It is time nationally for the Republican Party to retool, transform, win back the Presidency in 2024, expand our number of GOP-held seats in Congress, and elect the maximum number of down-ballot candidates across the country. https://t.co/1TAu4TAle6
— Lee Zeldin (@leezeldin) November 17, 2022
Looks like he has an uphill battle if McDaniel has a majority of pledged support from the committee. But I really think he’s got the energy, vision, and smarts to put the Republican Party in a better place in 2024.