The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Priebus Elected RNC Chair on 7th Ballot

Posted on | January 14, 2011 | 14 Comments

UPDATE XV: On the seventh ballot, Wisconsin GOP chairman Reince Priebus got 97 votes and was thereby elected the new chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Tough fight. Congratulations to the winner.

Hopefully he won’t seek vengeance against his opponents. They say those Cheeseheads can be heinously vindictive.

Just ask Troglopundit.

UPDATE XVI: The final account at The Hill.

Linked by Fire Andrea Mitchell — thanks!

* PREVIOUSLY *

UPDATE XIV: Tea Party favorite Ann Wagner of Missouri quits, does not endorse any other candidate. I now expect Reince Priebus to clinch on the seventh ballot.

UPDATE XIII: Sixth-round results – Reince Priebus 80, Saul Anuzis 37, Mario Cino 34, Ann Wagner 17. That means Priebus is just five votes from clinching. Cino is fading, and if Wagner or Anuzis want to stop Priebus, they must unite their votes now — and then try to peel some votes off Cino.

UPDATE XII: Sixth-round balloting is now under way. With incumbent Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele now out, there are four candidates left. Should Wisconsin GOP chairman Reince Priebus gets more than 70 votes on the sixth ballot, either Saul Anuzis of Michigan or Ann Wagner of Missouri will have to drop out and throw her or her support to another candidate, if they want to stop Priebus. The important question is, “Do they want to stop Priebus?”

UPDATE XI: With Steele now having dropped out and Priebus at 67 votes after the fifth ballot — with 85 votes needed to clinch — it is now reported that Saul Anuzis is meeting with Ann Wagner.

UPDATE X: Fifth ballot results – Reince Priebus 67, Maria Cino 40, Saul Anuzis 32, Ann Wagner 28, plus one vote for an ineligible write-in.

UPDATE IX: He Who Never Linketh:

Cino . . . happens to be Boehner’s pick and an establishment favorite. She’s also a Bush pal, so she should have no trouble getting big donors on the phone if she wins.

He Who Never Linketh got burned by citing a Tweet from Dave Weigel that had Steele denying he would drop out, right before Steele did, in fact, drop out. The fifth ballot voting is over. We’ll have the tally in a moment.

UPDATE VIII: Steele endorses Cino — rhymes with RINO. The battle will get ugly now.

UPDATE VII: STEELE DROPPING OUT! Fifth ballot voting is about to begin.

UPDATE VI: Fourth ballot — Priebus 58, Steele 28, Wagner 28, Cino 29, Anuzis 24, and an ineligible write-in vote. The Steele drop-out rumor is still just a rumor. Lot of backroom meetings reported. But he’s losing support on each successive ballot, and unless he throws his support one way or the other, his support could become irrelevant, if Priebus keeps gaining steadily.

UPDATE V: I just heard via Ali Akbar that incumbent chairman Michael Steele dropped out after the fourth ballot. Results of that vote in a minute.

UPDATE IV: Nobody has dropped out yet. Fourth ballot is now under way.

UPDATE III: The latest rumor is that Steele is meeting with Wagner, the Missouri state party chairman who has strong support from some leading Tea Party activists. If Steele drops out and can swing all of his support to Wagner, that would put Wagner ahead of Priebus and within 20 votes of clinching it.

UPDATE II: Steele has reportedly called his supporters into a closed meeting, which may indicate that the chairman is ready to drop out and throw his support to one of his challengers.

UPDATE: Third ballot — Priebus 54, Steele 33, Wagner 32, Cino 28, Anuzis 21. So Wagner and Priebus gained, while Steele, Cino and Anuzis are losing support. My source reports a rumor that Anuzis will drop out before the fourth ballot, but no word yet on who (if anyone) might get his support.

ORIGINAL POST 3:03 p.m. ET
Second ballot count: Reince Priebus 52, Michael Steele 37, Maria Cino 30, Ann Wagner 27, Saul Anuzis 22. More RNC news at Memeorandum. The third ballot was getting underway when I got this news.

Only 85 votes are needed to win the chairmanship. Unless there is a powerful “Anybody But Priebus” sentiment among RNC delegates, it looks like the Wisconsin GOP chairman will lock it up soon.

Category: Michael Steele, Republicans, Wisconsin

Comments

Comments are closed.