For someone who hasn’t declared a run for the presidency, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is making the national leadership moves. As I write, members and delegates of the Republican National Committee are in Dana Point, California, preparing to vote for the RNC Chairmanship for the next four years. Our Managing Editor Jennifer Van Laar is in attendance to report on this pivotal moment. This cycle’s chair will lead the party’s charge into the 2024 election cycle–a cycle that is already shaping up to be contentious and full of shifting sands within both parties.

Which is why the party needs an RNC Chair that is not only on their toes, but focused on winning, not just playing at controlled opposition.

Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, who is hoping to secure a fourth term, is slated by the legacy media to be the frontrunner. McDaniel claims she has the support of 168 RNC delegates and over 150 donors. Civil rights attorney Harmeet Dhillon is favored by those seeking change, and is touting some key donor endorsements of her own.

Pleased to support my friend Harmeet Dhillon (@pnjaban) in the race for RNC Chair. Hundreds of grassroots conservatives have reached out and asked me to vote for her, and I am happy to do so. pic.twitter.com/USH0wFB40D

— Morton Blackwell (@MortonBlackwell) January 26, 2023

My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell rounds out the nomination fight, but most see it as a race between McDaniel and Dhillon. Friday’s vote will tell.

In an interview with TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk, DeSantis has chosen to back Harmeet Dhillon. Former President Donald J. Trump, who has declared for 2024, chose to remain agnostic and not to back any candidate for the chairmanship.

From The Hill:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is backing California attorney and former Trump campaign adviser Harmeet Dhillon in her bid to take the Republican National Committee chairmanship away from Ronna McDaniel, saying in an interview on Thursday, “I think we need a change.”

“I think we need to get some new blood in the RNC,” DeSantis told Charlie Kirk, the founder of conservative Turning Point USA, on Florida’s Voice.

#BREAKING: Gov. Ron DeSantis praises Harmeet Dhillon (@pnjaban) in bid for RNC chair

"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 DC […] We need some fresh thinking." pic.twitter.com/Y5W78v4RC6

— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) January 26, 2023

The Florida governor, who is considering a 2024 presidential bid, lamented the performance of Republicans in the last three election cycles as reason for changing leadership at the RNC.

“We’ve had three substandard election cycles in a row: ‘18, ‘20 and ‘22. And I would say of all three of those, ‘22 was probably the worst. Given the political environment of a very unpopular president in Biden, huge majorities of the people think the country is going in the wrong direction — that is an environment that’s tailor-made to make big gains in the House and the Senate and in state houses all across the country. And yet that didn’t happen,” DeSantis told Kirk.

Florida has been the beacon of light during the pandemic and in the 2022 election. DeSantis won his second term as governor by the widest margin in 40 years. Sen. Marco Rubio sailed handily to his re-election, and Florida held on to all its incumbent congressional seats and picked up a few more, helping to cement the Republican Majority in the House of Representatives. So, even though DeSantis has not made any indications that he is running in 2024, he is attracting the attention and donor money of a candidate who is. This could be his golden moment, and putting his reputation and substance behind an RNC Chair would only add to its weight.