MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell Will Run For GOP Chair—Here’s Who Else He May Be Up Against

Topline

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell will run for Republican National Committee chair next year, he announced Monday, in a bid to make election denial the party’s core focus, a longshot challenge to current RNC chair and Trump ally Ronna McDaniel’s quest for reelection after a worse-than-expected GOP performance in this year’s midterms.

Key Facts

In an interview on Steve Bannon’s show, Lindell said he is “100% running,” claiming the Republican Party has not worked hard enough to combat supposed voter fraud.

Lindell argued the party didn’t lend enough support to candidates who made false voter fraud allegations the centerpieces of their campaigns this year, including Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, Arizona secretary of state nominee Mark Finchem and Michigan attorney general candidate Matt DePerno—all of whom lost.

The RNC’s 168 members—three per state or territory—are expected to elect a chair to a two-year term during the party’s winter meeting in January.

Lindell will likely face an uphill battle, however: McDaniel is reportedly planning to run for a fourth term as chair, and just over 100 of the party’s voting members endorsed her reelection in a letter obtained by The Hill earlier this month.

What To Watch For

Lindell isn’t the only possible candidate aside from McDaniel. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) told committee members he is “very seriously considering” running for RNC chair, Politico reported two weeks ago, after the Trump-backed Long Island congressman lost a bid for New York governor to incumbent Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. Former Trump White House staffer Mercedes Schlapp and her husband, Conservative Political Action Coalition leader Matt Schlapp, have also mulled running for RNC chair, NBC News reported.

Key Background

A former Michigan GOP chair, McDaniel was first elected to lead the national Republican Party in 2017. She fervently supported Trump’s reelection campaign, backed some of Trump’s unsubstantiated voter fraud allegations and stood by the former president in the months following the 2021 Capitol riot (she privately told Trump some vote-rigging claims were “crazy,” according to the Washington Post). At one point before her first term at the party’s helm started in 2017, McDaniel even acceded to Trump’s request to stop going by her maiden name Romney, which served as a public reminder that her uncle is Trump foe Mitt Romney, the Post reported. But McDaniel’s bid for another term as RNC chair comes after the party failed to win control of the Senate, won a smaller-than-expected House majority and lost several high-profile gubernatorial races earlier this month, a result some Republicans have blamed on Trump’s support for hard-right candidates and polarizing influence over the party. The next GOP leader will also lead the party through the 2024 presidential election, which will feature Trump as a primary contender. McDaniel has promised to remain neutral in the 2024 primaries.

Tangent

Lindell’s fixation on unproven voter fraud theories has made him a prominent figure in right-wing circles, earning him an invitation in January 2021 to meet Trump at the White House, where he was spotted carrying an alarming note referencing “martial law.” His voter fraud claims have also led to legal trouble. Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic are both suing Lindell for defamation over false claims their voting technology is rigged, and the FBI seized Lindell’s cell phone earlier this year in connection with a probe into a voting equipment breach in Colorado.