Harmeet Dhillon fails to win Republican leadership contest

Indian American attorney says her challenge to RNC chair has become a national grassroots movement

Indian American attorney Harmeet Dhillon failed to prevent Ronna McDaniel from winning a rare fourth term as chair of the Republican National Committee, but claimed her challenge had turned into a national grassroots movement.

Dhillon, a member of RNC’s California national committee lost the contentious election Friday by a vote of 111 committee members to 51. MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, whose campaign drew little support, received four votes.

Read: RNC infected with “crony capitalism”: Harmeet Dhillon (January 25, 2023)

The at times fierce, two-month-long race sparked debates about how the RNC has managed its finances and fared in recent elections, putting McDaniel and her allies on the defensive, Politico reported.

Speaking to a swarm of reporters after the vote, Dhillon said she is committed to working toward repairing fractures in the party, but that party unity won’t come overnight.

“We did not expect this to become a national grassroots movement,” she was quoted as saying. “So I’m committed to healing and coming together with folks, but at the end of the day, if our party is perceived as totally out of touch with the grassroots — which I think some may take away from this outcome — we have some work to do.”

The committee meeting at the Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach, a luxury seaside resort, illustrated the tense division within the Republican ranks that continue to exist months after the 2022 elections, Politico noted.

Read: Harmeet Dhillon alleges bigoted attacks owing to her Sikh faith (January 17, 2023)

Dhillon, whose firm represents former President Donald Trump, raised her profile over the last year with regular appearances on Fox News’ evening programs — garnering support in her bid for chair from a prominent cast of conservative commentators.

That list included Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham and Charlie Kirk, who helped mobilize an army of grassroots activists to call and email RNC committee members, urging them to oppose McDaniel’s reelection.

Dhillon drew a last-minute nod of support from Ron DeSantis on Thursday, though it’s unclear whether it swayed any votes, Politico said. The Florida governor’s decision to weigh in on the race stood in contrast to Trump.

Despite choosing McDaniel as his RNC chair after his 2016 victory, the former president publicly stayed out of this year’s contest, though Dhillon said he sent her a text message through one of his advisers on Wednesday.

In the text, Trump joked about disliking one of her endorsers (she declined to say who). Prior to that message, Dhillon hadn’t spoken with the former president since shortly after she announced her chair bid. She said that when she told Trump she was running, he remarked that McDaniel had also announced a campaign.

Read: Republican donors backing Dhillon for RNC chair: Report (January 11, 2023)

“He said, ‘OK, well, that’ll be interesting,’” Dhillon recalled, according to Politico. “‘Good luck.’”

Despite calling for wholesale reforms to the party moving forward, Dhillon declined on Friday to answer whether she supports Republicans moving on from Trump in 2024, saying it was inappropriate for an RNC committee member to influence voters in the primary process.

Read: Harmeet Dhillon warns of ‘crony capitalism’ at RNC, breaks with Trump on early voting (January 24, 2023)