Breaking News From Politico:
Majority of RNC against Michael Steele
A weeklong canvass of the party’s governing board by POLITICO revealed 88 members who have decided not to vote for Steele, either opting to support one of his opponents or simply ruling out Steele as a choice in the race.
Fifty-five members, some of whom have endorsed one of Steele’s challengers, have signaled that they will not support the chairman under any circumstances. An additional 33 pledged their support elsewhere.
Just as telling, not a single member of the committee said that Steele was their second choice in the race — a grave indicator in a contest likely to be decided in multiple ballots.
Further, whip counts kept by several of the chairman’s opponents suggest the Anybody-but-Steele bloc could be even larger, including as many as 90 to 100 members.
A winning candidate must gain the support of 85 members of the RNC…
Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus has emerged as the front-runner in the contest. He is the first choice right now of 32 members and the second choice of three more, according to the canvass. That could put him in a position to best Steele on the first ballot but still fall well short of the 85 votes needed to win.
After Priebus are former Missouri Republican Party Chair Ann Wagner, who clocked 13 supporters in the canvass, and Michigan RNC Committeeman Saul Anuzis with 11. Five members gave Wagner their second-choice endorsement. Four members, three of whom are currently supporting Steele, said they would back Anuzis as a second choice. The Michigander has sought to avoid criticizing Steele too much in hopes of picking up some of the incumbent’s loyalists in later rounds of voting.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/46956.html#ixzz1A0ZXLuiR
Tags: Michael Steele, Politics, RNC
