RNC

Former Steele Aide Gentry Collins Quits RNC Chairmanship Race

Eric Kleefeld | January 2, 2011, 9:59PM

Chairman of the Republican National Committee Michael Steele

On the eve of Monday's debate for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee, one of the candidates has now dropped out: Former RNC political director Gentry Collins who quit his post in November, and publicly attacked incumbent Chairman Michael Steele in a scathing letter.

Collins launched his RNC chair bid shortly afterward, but ultimately garnered the public support of only three committee members so far, out of a pool of 168 voters.

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RNC

With Priebus Surging, Is Michael Steele Heading For A Big Loss?

Eric Kleefeld | December 31, 2010, 8:54AM

The race for the Republican National Committee chairmanship is heating up -- with Wisconsin GOP Chairman Reince Priebus now having emerged as the frontrunner to defeat the incumbent Chairman Michael Steele.

The next big event to watch is this Monday, January 3, when the candidates will meet for a debate hosted by Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform.

In many ways, it seems odd that Steele could very well lose, after a cycle in which the GOP made big gains in offices large and small. And if there's one thing we've learned about Steele, it's that he has an impressive ability to weather scandals and gaffes that would fell others. But now, after all those gaffes and scandals, his opponents are now striking back in the open at election time.

Steele faces a crowded field of challengers that includes: Priebus, a former Steele ally whose smashing success at painting his state red this year has helped him shoot to the top; former Michigan GOP chair Saul Anuzis (also a previous 2009 RNC candidate, and the first challenger to get in this time); former Bush Administration official Maria Cino (who has been endorsed by Dick Cheney); former Missouri GOP chair Ann Wagner; and to top it all off, former high-ranking Steele aide Gentry Collins.

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RNC

RNC Chair Race Shrinks By One As CT GOP Chair Passes Up Bid

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 9, 2010, 11:09AM

Conn. GOP chair Chris Healy (left), with Rep. Themis Klarides and Orange First Selectman James Zeoli

Chris Healy, the chair of the Connecticut GOP and one of the many Republicans in the mix for the Republican National Committee chair race in January, says he won't be seeking Michael Steele's job at the RNC after all.

In an email sent today, Healy put an end to rumors that he may run for RNC chair -- and endorsed former RNC political director Gentry Collins for the job.

"Gentry possesses the leadership skills, temperament and energy we need to take our Party forward - to preserve the gains made in 2010, to protect our interests through redistricting and to make President Obama a one-term President," Healy wrote.

Healy has been one of the most vocal critics of Steele over the past few months, publicly attacking the embattled chair while most other candidates kept their criticisms on the more subtle side.

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RNC

Steele's Former Political Director To Challenge Him For Chair

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 23, 2010, 4:00PM

RNC chairman Michael Steele

Gentry Collins, the former Republican National Committe political director who ripped RNC chair Michael Steele in his resignation letter Nov. 16, is jumping into the race to replace Steele.

ABC News reports that Collins "has taken the first step toward running for RNC Chairman, filing papers with the IRS to create a 527 fund-raising committee called 'Collins for Chairman.'"

Collins' entry to the race brings the grand total of potential RNC chair candidates to, well, a whole heck of a lot. Just yesterday, two prominent insider GOP women got in the race and former Michigan GOP chair Saul Anuzis is already out there running hard. Add to that list the half a dozen or so other names being floated as possible RNC candidates and you've got a race that could be extremely unpredictable.

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Michael Steele

RNC Member Claims New RNC Hire Wasn't Hired By RNC

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 22, 2010, 8:38AM

Shawn Steel

Here comes another weird story surrounding Michael Steele's Republican National Committee. Three days after the RNC announced it had brought on board two new political advisers to replace outgoing political director Gentry Collins, a Steele-backing RNC voter and former head of the California GOP is claiming one of the new advisers not only isn't working for the RNC, but isn't even allowed to set foot in the GOP's Washington HQ.

After we published this story about experienced Republican consultants Jon Seaton and John Peschong coming aboard as senior political advisers after Collins left, we got a strange email from Shawn Steel, a voting member of the RNC and former chief of the Republican Party in the most populous state in the union.

"Please be advised that John Peschong is not retained or involved in any manner with the contract between the RNC and Jon Seaton," Steel wrote Friday. "Mr. Peschong had a controversial stay with RNC and as such is not welcomed to work with, contact or enter the premises of the RNC."

A person with direct knowledge of the situation and another one at the RNC offered basically the same response when we asked about the email: uh, what?

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Michael Steele

Michael Steele Attacks Establishment, Stakes Claim As A Tea Party Voice In The RNC

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 19, 2010, 4:36PM

RNC chairman Michael Steele

With the Republican National Commitee still reeling from former Political Director Gentry Collins' scathing indictment of chairman Michael Steele in his resignation letter, Steele has sent a letter of his own to the RNC's voting members defending his tenure at the helm of the committee.

TPM obtained a copy of the memo that Steele sent today, in which he highlighted his efforts to reach out to the tea party and drive turnout by reaching out to the Republican grassroots. And he took a less-than-subtle shot at establishment types who kept the fired-up conservative activists in the tea party at arms length for most of the cycle.

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RNC

RNC Taps Ex-Bush, McCain Staffers To Replace Outgoing Political Director

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 17, 2010, 9:44AM

RNC Chairman Michael Steele

In the wake of Republican National Committee political director Gentry Collins' spectacular departure from the RNC yesterday, chairman Michael Steele has tapped two veterans of the last two presidential cycles to replace him.

Collins left in a very public huff, dropping a letter on the RNC's executive committee that all but declared Steele incompetent to run the committee heading into the 2012 cycle. The RNC reacted by defending Steele's results and pulling in two new people to take over where Collins left off.

Jon Seaton, former John McCain campaign director in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and John Peschong, a former official in the Reagan administration and Senior Strategist for both McCain and George W. Bush, will be joining Steele's team at the RNC as Senior Political Advisors.

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RNC

RNC Responds To Political Director's Attack: Hey, We Raised A Lot Of Money

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 16, 2010, 4:49PM

RNC chairman Michael Steele

The Republican National Committee is firing back at a scathing resignation letter dropped by RNC Political Director Gentry Collins today.

Sort of.

In a brief statement, RNC spokesperson Doug Heye offered up a defense of the RNC's fundraising apparatus under Chairman Michael Steele -- but offered only a vague defense in response to Collins' charge that of the money Steele raised, he spent poorly. Nor did the RNC respond to Collins' claim that the party has been left with crippling debt that must be paid off before the 2012 cycle begins.

"For the first time in 16 years the Republican Party held neither the White House or either Chamber of Congress," Heye wrote. "Despite lacking that fundraising advantage, the RNC was able to raise more than $175 million, over $24 million more than the RNC raised during the entire 1994 cycle and over $36 million more than the DNC raised during the entire 2006 cycle, indexed for inflation."

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Michael Steele

Top Steele Aide Quits, Blasts RNC's Leadership

Brian Beutler | November 16, 2010, 1:46PM

Chairman of the Republican National Committee Michael Steele

There is yet more trouble for Michael Steele.

This morning one of his top aides -- Gentry Collins -- resigned from his position as the RNC's political director in a four-page letter indicting Steele's leadership, according to Politico.

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