But for the stubborn team seeking votes for Harmeet Dhillon, the California national committeeman taking on McDaniel, the friendly atmosphere is all the more reason to keep making their case. Parading their high-profile surrogates, former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and country artist John Rich, through the hotel, Dhillon’s team placed them with members who thought they could still be persuaded that the RNC needs change.
As a GOP member who attended the meeting said, RNC members have “historically stabbed each other in the back” in secret ballots, citing past races for lower leadership positions where candidates found out the hard way they didn’t have the votes they were promised.
Oscar Brock, the Tennessee national committeeman and member of Dhillon’s whip team, worked with committee colleagues from the complex’s lobby Wednesday night, keeping a mental list of potentially undecided members to talk to. By his count, as many as 30 members remain undecided in a race in which the winner will need a majority, at least 85 of the 168.
Caroline Wren, a Republican strategist who runs Dhillon’s chair campaign, said Wednesday night that Dhillon «needs to influence at least 12 more people,» but noted that she had more than a day to do it and had just given a “incredibly moving speech” about her. immigration background checks to members at a closed-door candidate forum that evening.
Roger Villere, the Louisiana national committee member, told POLITICO that he spoke to three members Wednesday who had switched their vote to Dhillon, but did not specify who.
“I think Ronna still has the upper hand, but Harmeet is still in the fight,” Brock said with a smile. «There are the saints, the sinners, and the savables.»
But despite Dhillon’s allies saying a handful of undecided members have gone over to his side since they arrived at the luxury resort, there have been no obvious signs of a mass movement toward the San Francisco attorney — the kind of push that you need after listing only 30 member endorsements. , compared to over 100 for McDaniel.
On Wednesday, McDaniel’s team publicly announced that two more members were endorsing it, the state party chairs of Wisconsin and Vermont, who had not previously intervened in the race. It arrived hours after Dhillon’s team turned up for an evening happy hour in the hotel lobby.
Standing by windows overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Dhillon and a dozen supporters on Tuesday night greeted members gathered at the hotel bar before business officially began.
Among those who lobbied was Paul Dame, the chairman of the Vermont Republican Party, who said he had kept an open mind about the race for the past two months and refrained from pledging his vote until Wednesday morning.
Dame issued a statement endorsing McDaniel, criticizing Dhillon’s aggressive campaign tactics that belittle the party and its current officials in the process. In an interview, Dame said she came to the conclusion after Dhillon tweeted more against the NCR establishment, a tactic she and her allies have advocated as a necessary part of the campaign against the incumbent.
“She’s kind of set up a campaign around the idea that ‘the RNC is crooked and will stay crooked unless you get me to fix it,’” Dame said. «And I think that puts us in a really difficult situation, and it’s created an unnecessary division.»
While Dame had originally planned to keep quiet about her vote, she decided to write a lengthy statement explaining her decision.. Dame said she knows she will have to discuss her vote and her confidence in McDaniel’s abilities with grassroots activists in her state who have been energized by Dhillon’s candidacy and who believe Dhillon is on track to oust McDaniel this week. .
“I really felt like there needed to be a voice standing up for Ronna, to prepare people who might otherwise get upset on Friday if it comes as a sudden shock,” Dame said.
During his members’ forum address Wednesday night, Dhillon directly addressed criticism that he has belittled his fellow Republicans and used divisive rhetoric. She responded to an email sent to all members this week by McDaniel supporter Jeff Kaufmann, chairman of the Iowa Republican Party, which highlighted examples of Dhillon’s public comments about RNC members having «contempt for the grassroots.» and members who do «very little» work between RNC meetings. .
“When I look at what seems to have been characterized as saying, it looks like I am a horrible person,” Dhillon said, according to a person in the room. “From the bottom of my heart, just as we don’t like the national liberal media misinterpreting what we say, let’s also be fair to each other and understand that… if you only write half of the answer, you may get a distorted view of what I feel.»
The only public «debate» in the presidential race took place on Wednesday afternoon and featured only one of the three candidates: My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, another challenger who has only one publicly declared supporter. . Dhillon sent a surrogate, a political strategist and fundraiser, Caroline Wren, who is advising his campaign for president. Wren said Dhillon was unable to attend the debate due to committee meetings she had to attend that afternoon.
A McDaniel name tag remained in front of an empty seat as Lindell and Wren joined in criticizing her performance as party chair. McDaniel previously said she would not engage in dishonest debates, explaining that she was already participating in the RNC members-only candidate forum held Wednesday night at the Waldorf.
The livestreamed public forum, hosted by conservative radio host John Fredericks, a McDaniel detractor, was held at a budget hotel 2 1/2 miles up the road from the RNC compound. Grassroots activists packed the small rented meeting room, where Virginia national committeeman Rich Anderson, who says he hasn’t decided how he will vote, moderated the forum.
Other signs of McDaniel’s continued control over the RNC are evident in the retreat. High-profile Republicans who endorsed his re-election bid, including former Trump White House adviser Kellyanne Conway and Family Research Council Chairman Tony Perkins, were chosen to headline a members’ lunch and dinner on Thursday. .
And while Dhillon’s team handed out bags of his campaign signs and continued to pressure members to support him, McDaniel’s campaign took a more subtle approach to the meeting, even though he had surrogates available to support such as Reince Priebus, Former RNC Chairman and Trump. the White House chief of staff, as well as former Georgia lawmaker Vernon Jones.
Both Dhillon and McDaniel will hold nightly informational receptions for members before the vote on Friday.
“We are getting very, very close,” Wren said. «But I’m not going to lie: it’s still an uphill battle.»
Rachael Bade contributed to this report.