Freshman Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) is ramping up efforts to win over members in his bid to become the next House Republican Conference chairman ahead of internal leadership elections slated to take place in the coming weeks.
Lawmakers noted that Donalds, who has been described by his colleagues as a rising star in the party and is one of two black GOP members in the House, faces an uphill battle in challenging Rep. Elise Stefanik , who currently holds the position, but his supporters say not to count him out, stating he has locked down backing from key conservatives and the majority of the Florida delegation.
“One of the biggest things that Byron's been hearing is how right now, it doesn't seem like Elise takes advantage of all the policy knowledge that the conference has — a lot of people that have been here for a long time that have a lot of knowledge of specific policies, and they just feel like they're sitting on the bench. And a lot of policy that comes out of conference right now is just written by her policy staff, and she kind of just takes credit for everything,” they said.
Others shot down the notion that it’s close, with some arguing his decision to launch a bid, which forced the New York Republican to make a swift decision on whether she would run for another term in leadership or seek the gavel for the House Committee on Education and Labor, could boost his name recognition and help put him on an upward trajectory.
“It's always going to be closer than people expect. What people have to remember is that the outside game doesn't matter as much when you're dealing with a secret ballot at a conference meeting,” one GOP aide said. “That's the room you have to win over. It's not like it's a vote on the floor where you can leverage public pressure by going to the base or rolling out public endorsements.
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