There’s plenty of competition for worst RINO in the establishment-wing of the GOP but there’s no question that Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) is up near the top.
But Romeny just got a surprise he wasn’t prepared for.
Because this GOP Congressman Lee Zeldin wants to do for America what he just did for New York – and that means going after Mitt Romney’s family.
A “Red Wave” only materialized in a few states on Election Day this year.
Florida and New York were two of the few bright spots for the GOP in the 2022 Midterm elections.
And now some on the right are hoping Lee Zeldin will repeat his strong performance in the Empire State, but on a national stage.
Most political pundits were predicting a red wave in the 2022 Midterms.
However, what actually played out was a standard election.
Red states went decidedly for Republicans, blue states went just as strong for Democrats, while swing states went right down to the wire.
That is, except in a few places, including notably Florida and New York..
The GOP outperformed expectations in both the Sunshine State and the Empire State.
And it is largely thanks to Florida and New York that Republicans are taking a narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Ron DeSantis fought to get the most potential House pickups in redistricting, while other Republican governors compromised for incumbent protection maps instead.
It resulted in four red pickups on election night.
Meanwhile, in New York, Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin ran a strong campaign against New York’s incumbent Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul – losing by just 5.5-points.
To give an idea of scope, in 2018, Gov. Andrew Cuomo won re-election by about 23.5- points.
In the 2020 Presidential election, Joe Biden carried the state by 23-points, only a half-point off of Cuomo’s 2018 gubernatorial pace.
Lee Zeldin’s impressive performance at the top of the ticket was enough to lift several Congressional candidates in the Empire State, and allowed the GOP to pick up four seats.
On a night where the GOP couldn’t win in the suburbs of Kansas, they made huge gains in New York’s blue turf.
Now, with his strong showing in mind, Zeldin is “seriously considering” running for RNC chair – and he’s receiving a lot of support towards that role.
“It is time for our party to retool, transform, win back the Presidency in 2024, expand our number of Republican held seats in Congress, and elect the maximum number of down ballot races across the country,” Zeldin said in an email he sent to RNC members. “The Republican Party needs to be all in to do everything in its power to save America.”
According to Politico, Zeldin has been fielding calls from elected officials and activists who have urged him to run for chair of the Party.
The move is both a recognition of the smart campaign he ran in one of the bluest states in the country – and as a pseudo-landing spot for the Congressman who took what was widely considered a suicide run for New York Governor’s office and kept it under 10 points in an otherwise mediocre GOP year, pulling a bunch of Republicans across the finish line in the House in the meantime.
To become head of the RNC, Zeldin would have to defeat Sen. Mitt Romney’s niece, Ronna McDaniel (née Romney), who has been chair since 2017.
Many conservatives have called for changes in GOP leadership following the Midterm disappointments, however, both Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy both came out on top in initial voting for reappointment to their leadership posts in the Senate and House respectively.
Zeldin was impressive in his campaign, while McDaniel hasn’t delivered anything above average results in any of the three election cycles for which she’s overseen the RNC – she still has strong establishment support to win another term.
Political Animal News will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
