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January 30, 2009

Steele wins RNC chair

Former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele has just been elected chairman of the Republican National Committee, beating South Carolina Republican Chairman Katon Dawson 91-77 in the sixth round of voting.

Steele becomes the party's first black chairman.

As Paul West writes,

The election turned into an outsider-insider contest, with Steele attempting to buck tradition by defeating a sitting member of the Republican National Committee. The Marylander served on the panel in the early part of this decade, when he was chairman of the state Republican party, but is no longer active.

He faced an uphill challenge against Dawson, who pulled ahead on the fourth ballot for the first time.

Mike Duncan of Kentucky, the incumbent chairman, led in the first round but faded after it became clear that he could not gain the 85 votes needed to win. He withdrew after the third round but did not publicly endorse a successor.

"Obviously the winds of change are blowing at the RNC," said Duncan, who has served on the committee for 17 years.


Read the rest of the story here.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 4:13 PM | | Comments (1)
        

Comments

Congrats Mike Steele

Posted by: Sidney | January 31, 2009 8:44 AM

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About the bloggers
Laura Smitherman has been ensconced in the State House basement, writing about the governor, General Assembly and vagaries of Maryland politics for several years. An erstwhile business reporter, her interest in politics dates to her days in Washington when she covered Congress and national campaigns for another media outlet. She now follows a range of policy debates from slot-machine gambling to universal health care and energy regulation, while keeping an eye on the next election.

Paul West covers Washington for The Baltimore Sun, continuing a tradition that began the month the paper was born, in 1837. He hasn't been in the DC bureau that long--only since Ronald Reagan was president. He's covered Congress, the White House and presidential campaigns as the paper's national political correspondent and Washington bureau chief. He's on the lookout for news of significance to Sun readers at the other end of the B/W Parkway. That includes the activities of the state's congressional delegation and anything else that might shed some light on the inner workings of the nation's capital.

Julie Bykowicz's first days as a political reporter, in January 2009, coincided with Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's indictment and the start of the Maryland General Assembly's 426th legislative session. She focuses on coverage of state agencies, such as social services, juvenile justice and prisons. During the session, she wrote about the death penalty, slots parlors and speed cameras, among other hot topics. Julie began political reporting after more than seven years on The Baltimore Sun's crime desk. She lives in Baltimore and works primarily in Annapolis.

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