| Election Name: | 2017 Republican National Committee chairmanship election |
| Flag Image: | Republican Disc.svg |
| Type: | presidential |
| Vote Type: | Caucus |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2015 Republican National Committee chairmanship election |
| Previous Year: | 2015 |
| Next Election: | 2019 Republican National Committee chairmanship election |
| Next Year: | 2019 |
| Candidate1: | Ronna Romney McDaniel |
| Color1: | DC241F |
| Popular Vote1: | 168 |
| Percentage1: | 100.0% |
| Chairman | |
| Before Election: | Reince Priebus |
| After Election: | Ronna Romney McDaniel |
The 2017 Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairperson election was held in January 2017, to determine the next chairperson of the Republican National Committee. The elected chair will be in charge of the national party activities during their two-year term.
Reince Priebus, the longest serving RNC chairman, did not run for reelection. Priebus had been named by President Donald Trump as his White House Chief of Staff.
On December 9, 2016, it was widely reported that President-elect Donald Trump intended to recommend Ronna Romney McDaniel as the person fill this post.[1] On December 14, 2016, Trump announced that McDaniel was his recommendation to be the next chair of the Republican National Committee.[2] The 168 members of the RNC, all of whom were elected at state and territorial conventions during the primaries and caucuses earlier in 2016, will decide and vote upon their next chair at their January 2017 meeting. Although historically the recommendation of the Republican nominee for the presidency is usually followed, there is no restriction on who the RNC members may eventually elect.
the following individuals did not run, despite speculation that they might become candidates:
| Image | Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Ayers | Former executive director of the Republican Governors Association[3] | ||
| Matt Borges | Chair of Ohio Republican Party | ||
| David Bossie | President and Chairman of Citizens United and Trump deputy campaign manager | ||
| Chris Christie | Governor of New Jersey, 2016 presidential candidate[4] | ||
| Kellyanne Conway | Trump campaign manager; Republican strategist and pollster | ||
| Robert Graham | Businessman and Chair of the Arizona Republican Party | ||
| Matt Moore | Chair of South Carolina Republican Party | ||
| Joe Nosef | Chair of the Mississippi Republican Party | ||
| Matt Pinnell | National State Party Director at the Republican National Committee | ||
| Mercedes Schlapp | Conservative commentator and columnist, Fox News contributor and wife of Matt Schlapp, the Chairman of the American Conservative Union[5] | ||
| John Whitbeck | Chair of Republican Party of Virginia |