What you risk when you stand by your vote
Those who pay attention to the Republican National Committee know a fight for control of the organization occurred in the months leading up to the winter meeting in 2023.
Leadership at the RNC is voted on every two years, and typically, the Chair is chosen by a sitting Republican president or the Republican nominee for President.
On December 19, 2022, Turning Point, USA, sent an email to all 168 members of the RNC. Charlie Kirk, the organization’s executive director, issued a threat. In essence, members who did not vote for his choice of chair would face a primary challenge under the pretense that the “grassroots were unhappy.”
From the email – “I am launching the Mount Vernon Project. This is a special project of Turning Point Action funded graciously by donors who are vocally disenchanted with the 168, which will seek to recruit leaders to serve on the RNC and at the state level who wish to better represent the grassroots voice.”
On the day my vote was cast, I was stopped by Charlie Kirk in the lobby of the convention hotel. He was asking members who they were voting for. Afraid to have a target on their back, many were known to say they were supporting his choice, even though they weren’t. I didn’t lie, I told him who I was supporting and why. Clearly not the answer he wanted to hear.
Once the votes were calculated, Kirk’s candidate had lost two to one to the sitting chair.
In addition to Kirk’s threat, RNC members were also doxxed by a group supporting his candidate, then the candidate herself, as she shared all of our contact information on X, formerly Twitter, not once, but three times in one day.
I am running for National Committeewoman again, not to represent the interests of any national organization but to represent New Mexico Republicans. No one outside my state recruited me.
I currently have 17 New Mexico endorsements and 10 from sitting legislators, and my list continues to grow. I have worked hard for the last 16 years to build relationships within my party and work with elected officials and volunteers to move our party forward. I am proud of what I’ve accomplished.
The Quadrennial convention, where convention delegates will decide my race, takes place on April 27th. I humbly ask for your support for a second term on the Republican National Committee. Please read my Bio for more information.
Tina Dziuk is an economic developer and the National Committeewoman for the Republican Party of New Mexico. She can be reached at tdziuk@aol.com.
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