Ending widespread speculation today, Wisconsin Republican Party chairman Reince Priebus has thrown his hat into the ring to be the next chair of the Republican National Committee. Priebus — a key backer of current chair Michael Steele’s 2009 election to head the RNC and until this weekend a powerful member of Steele’s staff — sent a letter to RNC members today announcing his campaign to run for chair and taking a swipe at Steele, the man he helped take the reigns at the RNC a little less than two years ago.
“The RNC must be at its best during this next election cycle. There is too much at risk for our Party and, more importantly, for our country. That is why I am running for Chairman,” Priebus wrote in his letter, according to the Hotline. “It is not just about fundraising. It is not just about communicating our message. It is not just about standing up for our conservative values and party platform. It is not just about putting together successful victory programs. It must be all those things to win in 2012.”
Priebus’ name has been bandied about in RNC speculation circles for weeks now. The RNC’s general counsel until Sunday, “it has often fallen to Priebus to put out fires that Steele has caused,” the Hotline‘s Reid Wilson reported.
“That role has grown tiresome, according to Priebus’s friends and associates.” Back in 2009, Priebus was among those pushing hardest for Steele to become chair of the RNC. Now he’s being pushed by some of Steele’s strongest critics, including the brother of former RNC chair and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour.
“Georgia GOP Committeeman Alec L. Poitevint and his counterpart from Mississippi, Henry Barbour…will support the Wisconsin chairman’s bid,” Politico‘s Jonathan Martin reports. “Also on board is Illinois GOP Chairman Pat Brady, like Priebus a former supporter of Steele.”
What do his supporters see in him? A chance to stamp out Steele’s remaining support among the RNC’s 168 voting members.
“But Priebus’s rivals suggest his ties to the current chairman will hurt him with some in the anti-Steele ranks,” Martin writes.
Read Priebus’ letter announcing his bid to become RNC chair here.
