Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus says he has locked up the support needed for a second term.
In a new video released on Thursday, Priebus claims that more than 150 of the 168 committee members have pledged to back him continuing as chairman, suggesting that a possible challenge to his tenure was unlikely to materialize.
Both former Rep. J.C. Watts (R-Okla.) and former RNC Chairman
Michael Steele had floated the idea of challenging Priebus, but committee sources had previously
told The Hill that the current chairman had the backing of most of the committee.
Priebus took over an organization that was in dire financial straits and helped turn it into a fundraising powerhouse, a development he stresses early in the video. But Priebus also acknowledges the party's need to expand its base, by appealing to women and minorities.
"We also must acknowledge that our goals are far greater and yet to be realized," he says in the video after touting his fundraising and organizational ability.
"Together we're going to make the case to every American from coast to coast that the Republican Party is their party and is the best choice for the future of our great nation and the principles it was founded upon," he says amid a montage showing racially diverse families and American symbols like the Statue of Liberty.
A poll released Thursday by the Democratic-affiliated firm Public Policy Polling showed that just 20 percent of Republicans wanted Priebus to continue on as chairman, while 37 percent wanted someone else. But most party insiders, who will determine the outcome, hold him in high regard for turning the committee around after Steele's tenure left the organization in dire financial straits.
