Former OKGOP Chair, Matt Pinnell, got some disappointing news from the Trump Transition team. The president-elect decided to endorse Michigan GOP chair, Ronna Romney (niece of Mitt Romney). As is Pinnell's style and class, he issued the following statement to his social media feed;
"I've had the pleasure of working with Ronna during my time at the RNC. She's the real deal, and will make an excellent National Chairman.
Both Ronna and Bob have spent time in the political trenches. They're tested and ready for this- exactly what's needed to continue the grassroots momentum at the RNC. Great picks."
Ironically, Pinnell was a shoo-in for RNC, had Trump lost the presidential race. He had spent the last couple years serving in the RNC, as the director of state parties. The 168 members of the RNC voting base all have worked closely with Pinnell. It was his job to make sure the national party was working with the state parties on key objectives.
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President-elect Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that Michigan GOP chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel is his choice to succeed incoming chief of staff Reince Priebus as chair of the Republican National Committee.
McDaniel, the niece of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and a Priebus ally, is expected to take on the role next month, when the 168 members of the RNC hold a leadership election during the committee’s winter meeting in Washington, D.C. Until that time, McDaniel will hold the title of deputy chair.
She will become the first female to hold the RNC chairmanship since the 1970s, when Mary Louise Smith oversaw the committee.
“I’m excited to have a highly effective leader in Ronna McDaniel as RNC deputy chair and I look forward to her serving as the Party’s chairman in 2017,” Trump said. “Ronna has been extremely loyal to our movement and her efforts were critical to our tremendous victory in Michigan, and I know she will bring the same passion to the Republican National Committee.”
The announcement capped weeks of jockeying, speculation, and behind-the-scenes intrigue as to who would lead the committee. It culminated in a proxy fight pitting Priebus, a longtime party insider who favored the establishment-minded McDaniel, against Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon, a populist firebrand who backed Georgia-based GOP operative Nick Ayers. Unlike McDaniel, a current member of the RNC, Ayers is a committee outsider.
Trump ultimately settled on McDaniel, who as head of the Michigan Republican Party helped him capture an industrial Midwest state that had voted Democratic in recent presidential elections. Last Friday, before a rally in Grand Rapids, Trump huddled with McDaniel, 43, backstage and told her he looked forward to working with her.
But Trump would also hand a consolation prize of sorts to the conservative advisers who backed Ayers, a group that included Bannon, former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, and mega-donor Rebekah Mercer. Rather than pick an establishment-minded co-chair, he tapped Paduchik, a fierce Trump defender and loyalist.
In a statement, Bannon signaled his support for the McDaniel-Paduchik co-chairmanship. “Ronna and Bob were completely committed to President-elect’s Trump’s success in this campaign, and they are going to keep up the enthusiasm for our America First agenda as they fulfill the RNC’s mission of helping our Republican candidates to victory at all levels,” he said.