Ronna McDaniel

Ronna Romney McDaniel (born March 20, 1973) is the Chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) and former Chair of the Michigan Republican Party. McDaniel is a granddaughter of Michigan Governor and businessman George W. Romney and niece of Senator Mitt Romney.

Ronna Romney McDaniel
Chair of the Republican National Committee
Incumbent
Assumed office January 19, 2017
Preceded by	Reince Priebus
Chair of the Michigan Republican Party
In office February 21, 2015 – January 19, 2017
Preceded by	Bobby Schostak
Succeeded by	Ron Weiser
Personal details
Born	Ronna Romney (1973-03-20) March 20, 1973 Austin, Texas, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Patrick McDaniel
Children	2
Parents	Scott Romney (father) Ronna Stern (mother)
Relatives	See Romney family
Education	Brigham Young University (BA)

As RNC Chair, she has been known for her prolific fundraising and staunch support for President Trump.[1][2] Under her leadership, the RNC ran ads for Trump's 2020 campaign as early as 2018, put numerous Trump campaign workers and affiliates on the RNC payroll, spent considerable funds at Trump-owned properties, covered Trump's legal fees in the Russian interference investigation, hosted Trump's Fake News Awards, and criticized Trump critics within the Republican Party.[1]

Early life, education, and family

On March 20,[3] 1973, McDaniel was born as Ronna Romney in Austin, Texas. McDaniel is the third of five children born to Ronna Stern Romney and Scott Romney, the older brother of Mitt Romney. McDaniel is a granddaughter of three-term Michigan Governor George W. Romney. Romney's mother ran for the U.S. Senate in 1996 against Carl Levin, served on the Republican National Committee, and was a delegate to the 1988 Republican National Convention. Romney's grandmother, Lenore Romney, ran for the U.S. Senate in 1970.[4] McDaniel has said her career in politics was inspired by her family.[5]

She attended Lahser High School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.[4] McDaniel earned an undergraduate degree in English from Brigham Young University.[6][7]

McDaniel and her husband, Patrick McDaniel, have two children.[4] They live in Northville, Michigan.[6] She is a Mormon.[8]

Career

McDaniel worked for SRCP Media as a production manager. She also worked for the production company Mills James as a business manager and as a manager at the staffing firm Ajilon.[9]

McDaniel worked in Michigan for her uncle Mitt Romney's 2012 campaign for President of the United States. She was elected Michigan's representative to the Republican National Committee (RNC) in 2014.[9]

In 2015, McDaniel ran for chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party, receiving support from both the party establishment and Tea Party activists. At the party's convention in February 2015, she defeated Norm Hughes and Kim Shmina, receiving 55% of the vote in the first ballot. She succeeded Bobby Schostak as chairwoman and stepped down from her position at the RNC.[10][9]

During the 2016 U.S. presidential election, McDaniel served as a delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention for Donald Trump.[10] Following the 2016 presidential election, McDaniel became a candidate to chair the Republican National Committee.[11]

McDaniel was an early supporter of Donald Trump. McDaniel had activist Wendy Day removed from her party position as grassroots vice-chair due to her refusal to support Trump.[12]

RNC chair (2016–present)

On November 13, 2016, Reince Priebus, chairman of the RNC, was announced as the new White House Chief of Staff, thereby turning the RNC chairman election into an open seat election. Soon afterward, several candidates were reported as likely to seek the position, including McDaniel.[13] On December 14, 2016, McDaniel was chosen by then president-elect Trump as his recommendation to replace Priebus.[14][1] She served as deputy chair before her formal election.[12] She was officially elected as RNC chair on January 19, 2017, becoming the second woman (after Mary Louise Smith) in RNC history to hold the post.[15] According to The Washington Post, Trump requested that she stop using her maiden name, and McDaniel subsequently did not use it in official communications.[16] McDaniel denies that Trump pressured her to change the name.[7]

The New York Times described McDaniel as "unfailingly loyal to Trump."[2] According to a 2018 study in The Journal of Politics, under her leadership the RNC has sought to consistently promote Trump and his policies.[1] This includes running ads for Trump's 2020 campaign as early as in 2018, putting a considerable number of Trump campaign workers and affiliates on the RNC payroll, spending considerable funds at Trump-owned properties, covering Trump's legal fees in the Russian interference investigation, hosting Trump's "Fake News Awards", and harshly criticizing Trump critics within the Republican Party.[1] The day after Republican congressman Mark Sanford, known for his criticism of Trump, lost his primary against a pro-Trump candidate, McDaniel tweeted that those who do not embrace Trump's agenda "will be making a mistake".[17][18] In April 2018, McDaniel praised Trump as a "moral leader".[19]

Politico reported that after Trump endorsed Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore just days before the special Alabama Senate election, the White House influenced McDaniel to resume RNC funding for Moore, who lost in a narrow election to Democrat Doug Jones in December 2017. According to two people close to McDaniel, she privately complained about spending time and money on Moore's behalf. McDaniel was reportedly shocked by Trump's decision to endorse Moore but felt that she had little choice but to follow the president's wishes.[20]

In October 2017 after Harvey Weinstein, a major donor to the Democratic Party, was accused of sexual abuse, McDaniel said that "returning Weinstein's dirty money should be a no-brainer"; the Democratic Party did give away some of Weinstein's contributions. In January 2018, Steve Wynn resigned as RNC finance chairman after he was accused of sexual misconduct and McDaniel came under pressure to return his donations. McDaniel said that Wynn should be allowed "due process" and that his donations would only be returned after the allegations were investigated by the Wynn Resorts board of directors.[21][22][23] In May 2019, it was reported that Wynn had donated nearly $400,000 to the national Republican Party, most of it to the RNC, the previous month. In 2017, Wynn and his wife donated $375,000 to the RNC. As of May 2019, none of the money has been returned by the RNC. Steve Wynn has never been convicted of the allegations.[24][25]

Under McDaniel's leadership, the RNC set up a website in April 2018 which attacked and sought to undermine former FBI Director James Comey and called him "Lyin' Comey".[26] McDaniel said Comey was a liar and a leaker, and said that the RNC would "make sure the American people understand why he has no one but himself to blame for his complete lack of credibility".[26][27]

As of 2018, McDaniel spends up to six hours daily calling donors. Under McDaniel's leadership, the RNC had what the Washington Post described as “a huge financial edge heading into the 2018 midterm elections.”[28] As of January 2018, the RNC had almost $40 million banked while the Democratic National Committee had a mere $6.3 million.[2] As of July 17, the Republican National Committee had raised about $213 million for the election cycle with $50.7 million in cash on hand and no debt. The Democratic National Committee raised just $101 million during the same period.[29]

In late July 2018, McDaniel falsely[30][31] claimed that Twitter was shadow banning Republicans, including herself.[32] Twitter did not shadowban Republicans, but due to a glitch, several prominent conservative and left-leaning Twitter accounts were not automatically suggested in the site's drop-down search results.[33][34][32] Twitter responded, saying it would fix the bug.[35]

Politico reported in November 2018 that McDaniel called on the Republican candidate Martha McSally to be more aggressive during the ballot counting process in the Arizona Senate race. The Arizona Senate race remained undecided for several days after election night while all ballots were being accounted in a close contest.[36] McSally held a lead by the end of election night, but her lead narrowed over the next few days, as more ballots were counted.[36] Reportedly, the McSally campaign was being pressured from McDaniel for not being aggressive enough.[36][37][38]

In January 2019, Mitt Romney penned an editorial for The Washington Post criticizing President Trump's moral character. McDaniel said the editorial by her uncle, "an incoming Republican freshman senator", "feeds into what the Democrats and mainstream media want" and was "disappointing and unproductive."[39] In March 2019, McDaniel stated she would not support "the nicest, most moral person in the world" to be president if they were not "aligned with [her] politics".[40]

In May 2019, when House Representative Justin Amash became the first Republican member of Congress to call for Trump's impeachment, citing the evidence of obstruction of justice in the Mueller Report, McDaniel criticized Amash, saying he was "parroting the Democrats' talking points on Russia".[41] While she did not explicitly express support for a primary challenge against Amash, she tweeted, "voters in Amash's district strongly support this president."[42]

In September 2019, McDaniel asked Doug Manchester, whose nomination to become Ambassador to the Bahamas was stalled in the Senate, for $500,000 in donations to the Republican Party. Manchester responded, noting that his wife had given $100,000 and that his family would "respond" once he was confirmed by the Republican-led Senate to the ambassadorship. CBS News described McDaniel's action as a "possible pay-for-play scheme" for the ambassadorship.[43][44]

On May 13, ProPublica reported that big RNC contracts were awarded by McDaniel to companies closely connected to her.[45] Contracts went to her husband's company and companies that supported her 2015 run for the chairmanship of the Republican Party in Michigan.[45]

By May 2020, the RNC had allocated $20 million to oppose Democratic lawsuits to make voting easier during the coronavirus pandemic, in particular expanding vote-by-mail to states that had not adopted it previously.[46][47] McDaniel accused Democrats of trying to "destroy" and "assault" the integrity of elections.[48][47] McDaniel said, "a national vote by mail system would open the door to a new set of problems, such as potential election fraud."[46] According to Deseret News, "Election experts say while voting by mail can be abused, it's rare and inconsequential."[46] In general, research has found no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the United States.[49]

In June 2020, McDaniel shared a RNC video warning about extensive voter fraud in the upcoming 2020 election due to expansions of vote-by-mail related to the coronavirus pandemic.[50] The Washington Post fact-checker wrote that the video "tortures the facts to create a narrative of an election about to be stolen. The illegality being satirized here is a phantom. State election officials, in many cases Republicans, are expanding vote-by-mail as a public health precaution to prevent the risk of spreading the coronavirus — not to rig the outcome."[50]

References

1. Heersink, Boris (July 25, 2018). "Trump and the Party-in-Organization: Presidential Control of National Party Organizations". The Journal of Politics. 80 (4): 1474–1482. doi:10.1086/699336. ISSN 0022-3816.
2. Peters, Jeremy W. (January 13, 2018). "A Romney Who Is Unfailingly Loyal to Trump". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on April 1, 2018. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
3. "Happy Birthday @GOPChairwoman!". March 20, 2018. Archived from the original on June 15, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
4. Cain, Carol (August 23, 2015). "Latest Romney in politics is not a candidate". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on November 15, 2016. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
5. Bush, Dana (August 9, 2017). "Romney McDaniel: One woman's rise to the top of Republican politics". CNN. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
6. Kelsey, Nancy (March 7, 2012). "Q&A With Northville Resident Ronna Romney McDaniel: Mitt Romney's niece, Ronna Romney McDaniel, spearheaded his campaign in Michigan". Northville Patch. Archived from the original on November 15, 2016. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
7. Burke, Melissa Nann (February 6, 2018). "Trump puts GOP chief's winning streak on line". The Detroit News. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
8. Glueck, Katie (March 7, 2017). "Can Ronna Romney McDaniel unite a fractured Republican Party?". McClatchyDC.com. McClatchy. McClatchy Washington Bureau. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
9. Egan, Paul (February 21, 2015). "Ronna Romney McDaniel elected Michigan's GOP chair". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on November 15, 2016. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
10. Spangler, Todd; Gray, Kathleen (July 20, 2016). "Romney McDaniel navigates being Mitt's niece, Trump's delegate". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on November 15, 2016. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
11. "Trump considering Ronna Romney McDaniel for post". The Detroit News. November 14, 2016. Archived from the original on November 14, 2016. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
12. Gambino, Lauren; Jacobs, Ben (December 14, 2016). "Next RNC chair to be Ronna Romney McDaniel, Mitt Romney's niece". The Guardian. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
13. Goldmacher, Shane; Cheney, Kyle (November 14, 2016). "Short list emerges for RNC chair". Politico. Archived from the original on January 5, 2017. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
14. Spangler, Todd (December 14, 2016). "Trump names Michigan's Ronna Romney McDaniel RNC chair". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on December 22, 2016. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
15. Nelson, Louis (January 19, 2017). "Ronna Romney McDaniel tapped to be new RNC chair". Politico. Archived from the original on January 19, 2017. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
16. Scherer, Michael; Dawsey, Josh (December 8, 2017). "Trump calls Romney 'a great man,' but works to undermine him and block Senate run". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 9, 2017. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
17. Samuels, Brett (June 13, 2018). "GOP chairwoman: Anyone who doesn't support Trump 'will be making a mistake'". The Hill. Archived from the original on June 14, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
18. Mazza, Ed (June 14, 2018). "RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel Called Out Over Trump Loyalty Demand". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on June 14, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
19. Garry, Lauren; Ellefson, Lindsey (April 16, 2018). "RNC chairwoman points to Syria strike as proof of Trump's moral leadership". CNN. Archived from the original on June 14, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
20. Johnson, Eliana; Isenstadt, Alex (December 11, 2017). "How Trump came around to an accused child molester". Politico. Archived from the original on December 13, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
21. "RNC chair says group will return Steve Wynn's donations if allegations are true". The Guardian. January 30, 2018. Archived from the original on February 1, 2018. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
22. Sommer, Will (January 30, 2018). "RNC will keep Wynn money until outside investigation is complete". The Hill. Archived from the original on February 1, 2018. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
23. Blake, Aaron (January 30, 2018). "Analysis | Republicans draw a very fine line between Steve Wynn and Harvey Weinstein, while keeping Wynn's money". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 31, 2018. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
24. Isenstadt, Alex. "Republicans take $400k from casino mogul accused of sexual assault". POLITICO. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
25. Haberman, Maggie; Karni, Annie (May 19, 2019). "R.N.C. Accepts Money From Steve Wynn, Mogul Accused of Sexual Misconduct". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 19, 2019. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
26. Zeleny, Jeff. "Exclusive: Inside the GOP plan to discredit Comey". CNN. Archived from the original on April 12, 2018. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
27. Byrnes, Jesse (April 13, 2018). "Tapper asks RNC chief: What gives you 'moral ground' to question Comey's integrity?". The Hill. Archived from the original on April 15, 2018. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
28. Lee, Michelle Ye Hee; Narayanswamy, Anu (February 1, 2018). "Republican National Committee has huge financial edge heading into 2018 midterms". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on May 22, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
29. Merica, Dan (July 17, 2018). "Republican National Committee tops $200 million in fundraising ahead of midterms". CNN. Archived from the original on July 25, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
30. "Twitter's not "shadow banning" Republicans, but get ready to hear that it is". Nieman Lab. Archived from the original on July 30, 2018. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
31. "What Is a 'Shadow Ban,' and Is Twitter Doing It to Republican Accounts?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 19, 2019. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
32. "RNC Chair Calls for Transparency From Twitter After Alleged 'Shadow Banning' of Republicans". Fox News. July 27, 2018. Archived from the original on July 30, 2018. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
33. "Twitter Isn't Shadow-Banning Republicans. Here's Why". BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on July 31, 2018. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
34. "Twitter says supposed 'shadow ban' of prominent Republicans is a bug". Engadget. Archived from the original on July 31, 2018. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
35. Samuels, Brett (July 26, 2018). "Trump: 'We will look into' Twitter for 'shadow banning' Republicans". The Hill. Archived from the original on July 31, 2018. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
36. Arkin, James; Isenstadt, Alex (November 9, 2018). "Sinema expands lead in Arizona Senate race". Politico. Archived from the original on November 12, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
37. Boehm, Jessica (November 12, 2018). "Despite rampant claims, there is no evidence of voter fraud in Arizona". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
38. Leingang, Rachel (November 12, 2018). "Martha McSally concedes to Kyrsten Sinema after 'hard-fought battle'". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
39. Wise, Justin (January 2, 2019). "RNC chair slams her uncle Mitt Romney for Trump criticism". The Hill. Archived from the original on January 2, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
40. Mazza, Ed. "'I Give Up!' Chris Cuomo Surrenders After Kellyanne Conway's Latest Bizarre Claim". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on March 15, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
41. "Trump has 'engaged in impeachable conduct': GOP lawmaker". ABC News. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
42. Andrew Desiderio. "Michigan GOP congressman says Trump's conduct impeachable". POLITICO. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
43. "Possible pay-to-play scheme for ambassador role in Trump administration uncovered by CBS News". CBS News. November 18, 2019. Archived from the original on November 19, 2019. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
44. Rupar, Aaron (November 18, 2019). "New investigation suggests Republicans took ambassadorial pay-to-play to new levels". Vox. Archived from the original on November 19, 2019. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
45. Spies, Mike; Pearson, Jake (March 13, 2020). "The RNC Gave Big Contracts to Companies Linked to Its Chairwoman's Husband and Political Backers". ProPublica. Archived from the original on June 23, 2020. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
46. Brown, Matthew (May 18, 2020). "GOP calls it voter fraud. Dems call it voting rights. Election battles heat up before November". Deseret News. Archived from the original on May 25, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
47. "Republicans devote $20m and 50,000 people to efforts to restrict voting". the Guardian. May 18, 2020. Archived from the original on May 25, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
48. "Republicans sue California Governor Gavin Newsom, claim his vote-by-mail order is "illegal power grab"". www.cbsnews.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
49. "Republican groups sue California over expanded mail-in voting". NBC News. Archived from the original on May 25, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
50. Rizzo, Salvador (June 24, 2020). "Fact-checking the GOP's 'satirical' vote-by-mail video". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 3, 2020.

External links

• Ronna McDaniel on Twitter
• Appearances on C-SPAN

Party political offices
Preceded by Bobby Schostak	Chair of the Michigan Republican Party 2015–2017	Succeeded by Ron Weiser
Preceded by Reince Priebus	Chair of the Republican National Committee 2017–present	Incumbent