EXCLUSIVE: Participants of Turning Point Action’s AmFest 2022 straw poll overwhelmingly voted for a change in leadership of the Republican National Committee, as the majority of respondents called for GOP lawyer Harmeet Dhillion to replace Ronna McDaniel as party chair.
Turning Point Action conducted a straw poll on Dec. 19, which polled 1,150 participants.
According to the results, shared exclusively with Fox News Digital, 65% of respondents “strongly disapprove” of the job McDaniel is doing leading the RNC, and just 1.6% of respondents said they “strongly approve.”
Participants were then polled on who they believe should run the party, giving the options of McDaniel, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell or Harmeet Dhillon, CEO of the Center for American Liberty and co-chair of the Republican National Lawyers Association.
The poll results said 57.6% voted in favor of Dhillon taking over the chairmanship of the RNC, 31% voted for Lindell, 1.7% voted for McDaniel, and 9.7% said they are “unsure” or have “no opinion.”
Dhillon, an attorney who is also an RNC committee member from California and served as a Trump campaign legal adviser, announced her bid to lead the RNC on the Fox News Channel earlier this month.
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Dhillon emphasized in an interview with Fox News Digital that she wants to take the party in a “fresh direction.”
Lindell, who is a strong supporter of former President Trump’s claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged and stolen, also announced he will challenge McDaniel.
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Participants were also polled on whether members of the RNC “should listen to the grassroots when considering who to vote for RNC chair,” to which 92.9% voted “yes.”
The RNC membership will choose the next chair in a secret ballot vote, when the national party organization holds its winter meeting next month in Southern California.
In an interview with Fox News Digital earlier this month, McDaniel described her backing as “pretty solid” and noted there are more than 100 RNC committee members who support her. That number would far exceed the simple majority of the 168 members needed to secure her fourth two-year term at RNC chair.
The race for RNC chair comes after the 2022 midterm elections that gave the GOP a razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives. However, Republicans failed to win control of the Senate, despite months of campaigning and party officials predicting a “red wave” election.
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The poll was conducted at TPUSA’s AmericaFest 2022, which took place from Dec. 17 to Dec. 20 in Phoenix.
Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.