SANTA BARBARA, California —The Republican National Committee on Friday took its first formal step toward a midterm convention, underscoring the high-stakes battle for control of Congress.
The RNC unanimously approved a rule change during its winter meeting in Santa Barbara that would allow the party to hold a convention during a midterm election year. A large number of RNC members had already left the meeting to catch flights home ahead of winter storms by the time the vote was actually brought up. The rest bolted almost immediately after.
RNC Chair Joe Gruters told those who stayed that he was ”incredibly excited about the possibility of hosting a midterm convention to highlight what President [Donald] Trump and Republicans have been able to accomplish this year.”
“If the president wants us to host a convention to highlight the great work his administration has done for the American people, we are [going to do] the work now, and will be ready to act when that time comes to ensure the greatest American comeback,” he said.
Gruters, Trump’s personal pick to lead the RNC, told party chairs and committee members that helping elect a Republican Congress and ensuring Trump doesn’t become a lame duck, starts with them. Gruters, a Florida state senator who replaced Michael Whatley last year for the national leadership role, is a fierce supporter and early backer of Trump.
“We are organizing early, recruiting strong candidates, capable candidates, raising the money, investing wisely, and working hand in glove with the White House to support this president,” he said.
Despite his sunny spin, Republicans are heading into the midterm election cycle on shaky ground, battered by internal divisions and external controversies that have left the party struggling to find its footing.
Debates around the Trump administration’s posture on Greenland have unexpectedly crept into midterm calculations. Trump, after ramping up rhetoric about asserting greater U.S. influence in Greenland, shifted this week toward a more diplomatic framework.
Some Republican strategists told the Washington Examiner that international distractions could divert attention from problems at home and dilute the party’s message on domestic priorities. There is also worry that controversies over immigration enforcement in Minneapolis and ICE agents being dispatched to local communities have fueled emotional debates across the country that could hurt the party in November.
Gruters’s solution, for now, seems to hinge on a large-scale GOP midterm convention this summer.
National political party conventions typically take place every four years during a presidential election. Delegates and party enthusiasts from all 50 states meet to officially cast their votes for a presidential and vice presidential nominee. They go back to their states enthused and ready to do the work to get their nominee elected.
Trump announced last September that the GOP would hold a convention ahead of the midterm elections “in order to show the great things we have done” since recapturing the White House. The RNC has not announced where the convention will be held or given specific dates, but advocates from Nevada and Texas were pushing their states as possibilities.
“I think it’s a fantastic idea and a way for us to gather together and show that we do support the president,” Annalisa Stravato, a national committeewoman from Connecticut, told the Washington Examiner.
Hawaii RNC committeewoman Shirlene Ostrov agreed and said that the January meeting helped focus RNC members on the task at hand.
“What we have gotten is a resolve from the Republican leaders across the nation that we are determined to protect the gains made by President Trump last year and make sure he’s a four-year president by preserving the majorities across the country,” she told the Washington Examiner.
The Democratic National Committee is similarly considering a midterm election convention. At its winter meeting in Los Angeles last month, officials from Utah and Nebraska were among those jockeying for their state.
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The RNC also passed a resolution at its winter meeting honoring the late Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, who helped mobilize young voters around a pro-Trump agenda. He was shot and killed at a speaking event in Utah.
There was also a moment of silence for the late Doug LaMalfa, a Republican U.S. House representative from California, who died unexpectedly last month.
