Ann Wagner

Wagner Drops Out Of RNC Chairman's Race, Does Not Endorse

Brian Beutler | January 14, 2011, 4:58PM

Ann Wagner

After slipping into last place in the RNC chairman's race, Missouri Republican Ann Wagner has dropped out, and released her supporters to back...nobody in particular.

"It is time that this committee heal and unify and remember that it is our job to beat Barack Obama in 2012," Wagner said. "I release my supporters, because I respect this process, very, very much, to do what they feel they should do in their heart."

If five of her backers move into Reince Priebus' camp, and he bleeds no support, he'll wrap this thing up.

Michael Steele

RNC Chairman's Race, Round Five Goes To Priebus

Brian Beutler | January 14, 2011, 4:16PM

Reince Priebus and Michael Steele

After ballot five, some real movement.

The overall tally, in descending order:

Priebus: 67
Cino: 40
Wagner: 28
Anuzis: 32
Anonymous, Ineligible Write-In: 1

Steele's bid to throw support to Maria Cino doesn't seem to have worked out exactly as he planned. Instead it appears that under half of his supporters broke for Cino, the rest for Priebus. Now Priebus is really closing in on the magic number, 85. It's a question of whether Wagner and Anuzis supporters accept him as Steele's successor, or decide to play queenmaker for Cino.

Michael Steele

RNC Chairman's Race, Round Four Goes To Priebus

Brian Beutler | January 14, 2011, 3:41PM

Michael Steele

The fourth ballot has been counted in the RNC Chairman's race, and we're still stuck, with Priebus enjoying a modest, but by no means overwhelming lead.

The overall tally, in descending order:

Priebus: 58
Cino: 29
Steele: 28
Wagner: 28
Anuzis: 24
Anonymous Write-In: 1

Priebus enjoys a small, four vote gain. If somebody doesn't drop out soon and endorse him, we're in for a long night. Speculation is that Steele will throw his support to Wagner, which would put her in a dead heat with Priebus. Stay tuned.

Michael Steele

RNC Chairman's Race, Round Three Goes To Priebus

Brian Beutler | January 14, 2011, 3:05PM

RNC Chairman Michael Steele

The third ballot has been cast in the RNC Chairman's race, and the winner, again, is Reince Priebus, with 54 votes.

The overall tally, in descending order:

Priebus: 54
Steele: 33
Wagner: 32
Cino: 28
Anuzis: 21

Strange results. Cino's lost all momentum, and Wagner's slowly climbing, but Priebus isn't building on his lead.

Michael Steele

RNC Chairman's Race, Round Two Goes To Priebus

Brian Beutler | January 14, 2011, 2:26PM

RNC Chairman Michael Steele

The second ballot has been cast in the RNC Chairman's race, and the winner, again, is Reince Priebus, with 52 votes.

The overall tally, in descending order:

Priebus: 52
Steele: 37
Cino: 30
Wagner: 27
Anuzis: 22

Maria Cino underperformed compared to round one, which will fuel speculation that Priebus parked some votes with her to set her up as his mano-a-mano opponent. This is just one of many unsourced lines of speculation floating around the convention center, bu it's got plenty of traction. Steele, predictably, is sinking quickly -- he lost seven votes between the first and second rounds.

Michael Steele

The Results Are Anyone's Guess As RNC Chair Election Kicks Off

Brian Beutler | January 14, 2011, 12:38PM

Reince Priebus and Michael Steele

The RNC chairman's election will commence momentarily, and members are expected to pick a replacement for Michael Steele. But the arcane rules of the committee's election process allow Steele to remain in contention as long as he wants.

Here's the intelligence we have so far.

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RNC

Will Reince Priebus Surge To The RNC Chairmanship?

Eric Kleefeld | January 13, 2011, 10:38AM

Reince Priebus and Michael Steele

The Republican National Committee is set to meet Friday to elect its chairman -- and from the looks of things, incumbent RNC Chair Michael Steele's history of gaffes, combined with the party's recent financial problems, will doom him at the vote. But can Wisconsin GOP Chair Reince Priebus, the frontrunner headed into the vote, seal things up?

In the latest count from National Journal, Priebus has 40 committed votes, Steele 17 -- a truly awful place for an incumbent to be -- former Missouri GOP chair Ann Wagner 15, former Michigan GOP chair Saul Anuzis 14, and former Deputy RNC chair Maria Cino 12.

This is not to say that Priebus has it locked up -- far from it, when one takes into account that the single largest group are the 70 committee members who have not publicly declared a choice. As a percentage, then, Priebus is at 24%, Steele at only 10%, Wagner 9%, Anuzis 8%, and Cino 7%, with "uncommitted" in the lead at 42%.

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RNC

As Nation Shifts Toward Gay Rights, RNC Candidates Promise To Stay Put

Evan McMorris-Santoro | January 4, 2011, 8:07AM

Reince Priebus and Michael Steele

The past year saw great strides forward for supporters of gay rights, culminating in the repeal in December of the military's ban on openly gay and lesbian service members. Polls continue to show the American public is warming to gay rights, from overwhelmingly supporting the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell to rising support for legalized gay marriage at the federal level.

[TPM SLIDESHOW: It's Over: Senate Repeals Don't Ask, Don't Tell]

It seems increasingly clear that embracing some changes in the way gays and lesbians interact with society will be necessary for political viability in the future. That is, unless you're running to be the next chair of the Republican National Committee. At their debate yesterday, the major candidates running to lead the RNC through the 2012 presidential race pledged to hold the line on gay rights, expressing concern over the repeal of DADT and vowing to keep the Republican Party in the sanctity of marriage business.

Though Republicans may be less willing overall to embrace gay rights than other groups, the party by no means speaks with one voice on the topic. The DADT repeal vote in the Congress carried a few Republican votes with it, and a handful of well-known Republicans have expressed their support for gay marriage as well.

But that's not how the candidates for RNC chair see it. At the debate yesterday, they spoke with basically one voice and said support for gay marriage does not have a place in the modern GOP.

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RNC

Ann Wagner Owns Way More Guns Than Other RNC Chair Candidates (VIDEO)

David Taintor | January 3, 2011, 4:41PM

Ann Wagner

Republican National Committee chair candidate Ann Wagner blew away the competition when Grover Norquist asked each candidate at today's debate how many guns they own.

"About 16," replied Wagner, whose family actually just got a new gun case for Christmas.

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RNC

Ann Wagner Names Favorite Bar -- Not Book -- At RNC Chair Debate (VIDEO)

David Taintor | January 3, 2011, 3:37PM

Ann Wagner

The candidates for chairman of the Republican National Committee are a literate bunch. And when asked to name their favorite book, their answers were revealing, to say the least.

Maria Cino's favorite is the classic To Kill a Mockingbird. Reince Priebus named The Reagan Diaries as his first choice. And current RNC Chairman Michael Steele's favorite is War and Peace.

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RNC

RNC Candidates: We Heart Fighting Voter Fraud

Eric Kleefeld | January 3, 2011, 3:15PM

This afternoon's RNC chairmanship debate saw the candidates being asked what they would do about a perennial issue that is near and dear to GOP hearts: The threat of alleged Democratic voter fraud.

As you probably know, voter fraud is a frequent complaint among Republicans, motivating their efforts to enact laws such as voter-identification, and to dispatch poll-watchers to precincts in (heavily Democratic) urban areas. At the other end of the spectrum, Democrats are quick to point out that very few voter-fraud prosecutions ever actually take place, and that the GOP's efforts would have a great impact of making it harder for lower-class and minority demographics to vote.

[TPM SLIDESHOW: Michael Steele's Summer Vacation: Elect Republicans, Then Reelect Me!]

Reince Priebus was first. "Well that's a good question for me, because I was chairman when we sued our Government Accountability Board in the state of Wisconsin over our non-compliance with an eight-year-old HAVA [Help America Vote Act] law," said Priebus, who then criticized the very open voting system in his state. "We are one of the few states in the entire country, in Wisconsin, where you can actually vote on Election Day without registering. And you can also vote without any picture identification at all. So our challenges in Wisconsin are astronomical."

He also added: "I think we need to win more races in the legislature so we can pass photo ID in all states, and make sure that we either have photo ID or real ID, or some method of protecting our constitutional right to vote in this country. And I think it has to be a top priority of the next chairman."

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