Reince Priebus Seeks Return as RNC Chairman
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Scott Olson/Getty Images(WASHINGTON ) — Reince Priebus will run for another term as chairman of the Republican National Committee.
A source close to Priebus’ chairmanship campaign confirmed his decision to ABC News.
The RNC selects its chairman every two years at its winter meetings in January.
Priebus was elected chairman in January 2011 at the Gaylord resort in National Harbor, Md., after seven rounds of voting. He succeeded the embattled Michael Steele, who dropped his bid after four rounds of voting, and also beat out former Missouri GOP chairwoman Ann Wagner, former Michigan GOP chairman Saul Anuzis, and former Bush administration official Maria Cino.
He took over after Steele left the party saddled with debt and embroiled in controversy over his leadership. An uproar over young donors at a bondage-themed Los Angeles nightclub, on the RNC’s dime, had not helped things. The party did, however, make historic gains under Steele’s tenure, re-taking the House of Representatives in the 2010 midterms.
Priebus will seek re-election after a tough year for the party, which not only saw Mitt Romney lose to President Obama, but which also fell well short of expectations in down-ballot races. Democrats gained two Senate seats in a cycle that initially Republicans were hopeful of gaining the Senate majority.
Priebus’ tenure, however, has been marked by little controversy, especially compared with Steele’s, and a big GOP victory in his home state of Wisconsin, where Gov. Scott Walker boosted Republicans nationally by surviving a Democratic recall challenge.
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