Editing Republican National Committee (section)

====2009 election====
{{Main|2009 Republican National Committee chairmanship election}}
On November 24, 2008, Steele launched his campaign for the RNC chairmanship with the launching of his website.<ref name=PolitickerMD_Reiter>{{cite web|url=http://www.politickermd.com/danielreiter/4232/steele-website-goes-live#comment-9959 |title=Steele Website Goes Live |first=Daniel |last=Reiter |publisher=Politicker.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090126051147/http://www.politickermd.com/danielreiter/4232/steele-website-goes-live |archive-date=January 26, 2009}}</ref> On January 30, 2009, Steele won the chairmanship of the RNC in the sixth round, with 91 votes to Dawson's 77.<ref name=BURNS>{{cite news|last=Burns|first=Alexander|title=It's Steele!|publisher=Politico|date=2009-01-30|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/18216.html|access-date=2009-01-30|archive-date=2009-02-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201061324/http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/18216.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

''Source: CQPolitics'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000003021842&cpage=1 |title=Republican Choose Michael Steele as Party Chairman |publisher=CQ Politics |date=January 30, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203003925/http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000003021842&cpage=1 |archive-date=February 3, 2009}}</ref> and Poll Pundit.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://polipundit.com/index.php?p=20632 |title=RNC Chairman Vote: Live Coverage |work=PollPundit.com |date=January 30, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202073843/http://polipundit.com/index.php?p=20632 |archive-date=February 2, 2009}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Candidate
!Round 1
!Round 2
!Round 3
!Round 4
!Round 5
!Round 6
|-
|'''[[Michael Steele]]'''
|46
|style="background:cornflowerblue;"|48
|style="background:cornflowerblue;"|51
|60
|style="background:cornflowerblue;"|79
|style="background:limegreen;"|91
|-
|[[Katon Dawson]]
|28
|29
|34
|style="background:cornflowerblue;"|62
|69
|77
|-
|[[Saul Anuzis]]
|22
|24
|24
|31
|20
|style="background:lightgrey;"|''Withdrew''
|-
|[[Ken Blackwell]]
|20
|19
|15
|15
|style="background:lightgrey;"|''Withdrew''
|style="background:lightgrey;"|-
|-
|[[Mike Duncan (politician)|Mike Duncan]]
|style="background:cornflowerblue;"|52
|style="background:cornflowerblue;"|48
|44
|style="background:lightgrey;"|''Withdrew''
|style="background:lightgrey;"|
|style="background:lightgrey;"|
|}

:{{Color box|limegreen|border=darkgray}} Candidate won majority of votes in the round
:{{Color box|cornflowerblue|border=darkgray}} Candidate secured a plurality of votes in the round
:{{Color box|lightgrey|border=darkgray}} Candidate withdrew

On announcing his candidacy to succeed RNC Chairman Duncan, former Maryland Lt. Gov. [[Michael Steele]] described the party as being at a crossroads and not knowing what to do. "I think I may have some keys to open the door, some juice to turn on the lights," he said.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/11/michael_steele_to_run_for_rnc.html?nav=rss_blog |title=Michael Steele to Run For RNC Chair |access-date=February 12, 2009 |last=Cillizza |first=Chris |date=November 13, 2008 |work=[[The Fix (blog)|The Fix]] |publisher=The Washington Post |archive-date=November 2, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111102050734/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/11/michael_steele_to_run_for_rnc.html?nav=rss_blog |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Six people ran for the 2009 RNC Chairmanship: Steele, [[Ken Blackwell]], [[Mike Duncan (politician)|Mike Duncan]], [[Saul Anuzis]], [[Katon Dawson]] and [[Chip Saltsman]]. After Saltsman's withdrawal, there were only five candidates during the hotly contested balloting January 30, 2009.

After the third round of balloting that day, Steele held a small lead over incumbent Mike Duncan of [[Kentucky]], with 51 votes to Duncan's 44. Shortly after the announcement of the standings, Duncan dropped out of contention without endorsing a candidate.<ref>Armbinder, Mark. [http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/01/rnc_chairman_duncan_drops_reel.php RNC Chairman Duncan Drops Re-Election Bid] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201020537/http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/01/rnc_chairman_duncan_drops_reel.php |date=2009-02-01 }}, January 30, 2009, ''[[The Atlantic]]''.</ref> Ken Blackwell, the only other African-American candidate, dropped out after the fourth ballot and endorsed Steele, though Blackwell had been the most socially conservative of the candidates and Steele had been accused of not being "sufficiently conservative."  Steele picked up Blackwell's votes.<ref>Cillizza, Chris. [http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2009/01/steele_elected_rnc_chair.html Steele Elected RNC Chair] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090801012636/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2009/01/steele_elected_rnc_chair.html |date=2009-08-01 }}, January 30, 2009, ''The Washington Post''.</ref> After the fifth round, Steele held a ten-vote lead over Katon Dawson, with 79 votes, and Saul Anuzis dropped out.<ref>Hamby, Peter. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090202104239/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/category/rnc-race/ BREAKING: Steele picked to lead RNC], January 30, 2009, [[CNN]] Political Ticker. </ref>  After the sixth vote, he won the chairmanship of the RNC over Dawson by a vote of 91 to 77.<ref>{{cite news|last=Burns|first=Alexander|title=It's Steele!|publisher=Politico|date=January 30, 2009|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/18216.html|access-date=January 30, 2009|archive-date=February 1, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201061324/http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/18216.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Mississippi Governor and former RNC chair [[Haley Barbour]] has suggested the party will focus its efforts on congressional and gubernatorial elections in the coming years rather than the next presidential election. "When I was chairman of the Republican National Committee the last time we lost the White House in 1992 we focused exclusively on 1993 and 1994. And at the end of that time, we had both houses of Congress with Republican majorities, and we'd gone from 17 Republican governors to 31. So anyone talking about 2012 today doesn't have their eye on the ball. What we ought to worry about is rebuilding our party over the next year and particularly in 2010," Barbour said at the November 2008 Republican Governors conference.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=OTgxMDMyNTU4NTE2MjM5MDQyNDlkMzU0YTlkNmNiMjQ= |title=Palin, the Governors, and the New Power in the Republican Party |access-date=February 12, 2009 |last=York |first=Byron |author-link=Byron York |date=November 13, 2008 |publisher=National Review Online |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109203529/http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=OTgxMDMyNTU4NTE2MjM5MDQyNDlkMzU0YTlkNmNiMjQ= |archive-date=January 9, 2009}}</ref>