Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) said Thursday he would “very seriously consider” running for Republican National Committee chair, challenging Ronna McDaniel in her bid for reelection.
Zeldin, 42, who is coming off the heels of a defeat in the Empire State’s governor race last week, told Politico in an email that he has received requests both inside and outside the committee’s 168 members to replace McDaniel.
“It is time for our party to retool, transform, win back the presidency in 2024, expand our number of Republican held seats in Congress, and elect the maximum number of down ballot races across the country,” Zeldin said. “The Republican Party needs to be all in to do everything in its power to save America.”
Zeldin campaigned on failed Democratic policies responsible for the surge in crime in the state — especially in New York City — which he said would continue to run rampant in American cities.
After the highly anticipated red wave crashed before it could flood into the Senate chambers, Zeldin said failing to win the congressional wing allows the Biden administration’s agenda to continue — which has caused a crisis at the Southern Border, taxpayers’ pockets to shrink, and depleting American energy through the pipe dream known as the Green New Deal.
“Of every one of these issues, the American people agree that our approach will lead to a safer, more prosperous country for our families, which is all the more reason why we have not been as successful in the elections across the country as we were in New York — a traditionally Democratic stronghold — this year,” he said.
Despite falling short in the Senate, Republicans successfully took back the House.
Conservative New Yorkers turned out in record numbers in the 2022 midterm elections, which led to four congressional seats flipping from blue to red — the most in the entire country — and removed the Chair of the Democratic Congressional Committee.
Although Zeldin failed to sweep the governor’s race against his non-traditional incumbent opponent, the New York representative led an impressive campaign by finishing six points behind Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul — making it the closest gubernatorial race in the state since 1994.
The Times Union reports every county in the state swung to the right since the presidential election in 2020, which led Republicans to change the margin of victory by an average of 14 points.
Zeldin urged the Republican Party to build off the energy nationwide by driving up the GOP base, dive into deep blue communities, and form new relationships to advance the conservative agenda.
“This means making sure people know what we stand for, and not just what we are against,” he said.
RNC Chairwoman McDaniel told committee members this week she would run for reelection to lead the party through the 2024 presidential election.
Politico reports the current chairwoman said she would run based on the feedback from her support, many of whom reached out to her to continue leading the committee.
“The Chairwoman has overwhelming support from the members of the RNC to run again, which we hope she does, to make Joe Biden a one-term President and get a Republican back in the White House,” Jim Dicke, an RNC committee member from Ohio, told Fox News in a statement.
According to Fox News, Mercedes Schlapp, a former top Trump White House official who is the wife of American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp, has also considered running for the position.
RNC committee members will vote on the next chair in early January for their annual winter meeting.
