Harmeet Dhillon lands endorsements from major GOP donors in bid to unseat McDaniel as RNC chair

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Inside Harmeet Dhillons plan to shake up the RNC

RNC committeewoman Harmeet Dhillon says that Ronna McDaniel needs to "move on" from the RNC after the GOP failed to capture the White House and Senate leadership during McDaniel’s tenure.

A group of Republican mega-donors say the party is "on the verge of permanent irrelevance" if it fails to come together and support a change of leadership. 

In a public letter addressed to the Republican National Committee, the donors threw their support behind Harmeet Dhillon, a civil rights attorney and national committeewoman for the RNC, to replace its current chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel. 

Attorney Harmeet Dhillon California's national committeewoman for the Republican National Committee poses for a photograph at her office in San Francisco on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017.  (Anda Chu/MediaNews Group/Bay Area News via Getty Images)

The donors said the party cannot continue on its current trajectory if it continues to see such losses as it did in the last three election cycles. 

"The Republican Party currently faces the most organized, radical, and weaponized Democrat Party the nation has ever seen," the donors said. "Despite this clear and present threat to our freedom, the highest levels of the Republican National Committee appear to be more focused on blaming others for their lack of leadership and lining the pockets of cherry-picked consultants than on winning elections." 

RONNA MCDANIEL LANDS ENDORSEMENTS FROM REPUBLICAN MEGA-DONORS IN BID FOR FOURTH TERM LEADING RNC

They noted a growing perception among party donors and activists that the RNC needs "fresh leadership in order to make the necessary changes to win elections." 

"We are calling on members of the RNC to thank Ronna McDaniel for her service and to support the only RNC member seeking to succeed her, Harmeet Dhillon – a bold visionary with the energy and experience to retool the party for success in 2024 and beyond," the donors said. 

"The RNC is, is in a difficult situation," Dhillon told Fox News Digital. "It's because our leadership refuses to take responsibility for failures, whether it's one person's fault or not … leadership requires taking responsibility." 

The RNC’s 168 members will vote in a secret ballot for leadership later this month. 

Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, listens to then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., address an Election Night party at The Westin Washington hotel in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

McDaniel would become the one of the longest serving RNC chairs in over 100 years if she were elected to a fourth term. Since her announcement, roughly 73% of GOP voters want the RNC to move on from McDaniel, according to a December poll by the Convention of States Action.

Despite calls for changes in leadership at the RNC, McDaniel says she has instituted several changes that has enhanced the party’s outreach.

"I think I have provided a lot of change under my leadership," McDaniel told Fox Business’ Stuart Varney in December. "I'm always open to new ideas and ways to move forward."

More than half a dozen major GOP donors have endorsed McDaniel in her bid for a fourth term as chair of the RNC, Fox News Digital reported last week. 

The major donors, who include Dave Kelsey, Melinda Hildebrand, and Dr. James Reibel, among others, have collectively contributed at least $14 million to the Republican Party since 2017, when McDaniel began her tenure as chair of the RNC. 

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Emma Vaughn, a spokesperson from McDaniel's re-elect campaign, said those RNC members have rallied around McDaniel "because of her unprecedented investments in the grassroots, election integrity, and minority communities, and for taking on Big Tech and the biased Commission on Presidential Debates." 

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"Member support for the Chairwoman has grown since her announcement and she will continue speaking with each and every member about how the party can continue building upon our investments and make the necessary improvements to compete and win in 2014. 

Fox News’ Lacey Christ and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.