Ron DeSantis Calls for Leadership Change at RNC on Eve of Election After ‘3 Substandard Election Cycles in a Row’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) called for “new blood” at the helm of the Republican National Committee on the eve of the election, as the new leader will be decided by the end of the week.

“We’ve had 3 substandard election cycles in a row, ‘18, ‘20, and ‘22, and I would say of all of those ‘22 was probably the worst given the political environment of a very unpopular President Biden — huge majorities of the people think the country’s going in the wrong direction,” DeSantis told Turning Point USA founder and president Charlie Kirk. “That is an environment that’s tailormade to make big gains in the House, in the Senate, in the state houses all across the country, and yet, that didn’t happen.”

“In fact, we even lost ground in the U.S. Senate,” he continued. “I think we need a change. I think we need to get some new blood in the RNC. I like what Harmeet Dhillon has said about getting the RNC out of D.C.”

“Why would you want to have your headquarters in the most Democrat city in America?” he asked rhetorically. “It’s more Democrat than San Francisco is! So, I think you get it in real parts of the country, you attract people who want to live in those parts of the country, not D.C. insiders. But I do think we need some fresh thinking.”

DeSantis implied that the current leadership does not inspire grassroots Republican activism that wins elections.

“Just practically speaking, you need grassroots Republicans to power this organization with volunteering and donations,” he said. “I think it’s going to be very difficult to energize people to want to give money, to want to volunteer their time with the RNC, if they don’t see a change in direction.”

Republicans had a historically underwhelming victory for a party in opposition to the one that controls the White House in the 2022 midterms. While many anticipated a “red wave,” Republicans only gained ten seats in the House and lost ground in the Senate.

As Breitbart News reported, polling from the Trafalgar Group/Convention of States Action shows 86 percent of Republican voters prefer Dhillon over McDaniel, while only 14 percent prefer McDaniel.

Despite that, both Dhillon and McDaniel have maintained donor and activist endorsements, and the vote for chair takes place among committee members, not Republican voters.

One prominent endorser of McDaniel is Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), while Dhillon recently obtained the endorsement of pro-life activist and Live Action president and founder Lila Rose.

Breccan F. Thies is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @BreccanFThies.