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 (R-NY), 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.
“Congressman Donalds has strong support throughout the Conference. I have every confidence he’ll be a great Conference chair,” Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC), who has been assisting Donalds in the race, said in a statement.
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According to a source familiar with his efforts, the Florida Republican has been speaking with lawmakers to make his case as to why he’s the best person for the job. His camp has been handing out personalized swag to would-be supporters, including gift bags with customized cigars with his name on them and branded koozies, as well as insulated wine coolers, quarter-zips, and flavored popcorn from his district.
The source added that the Florida Republican’s approach to the position, which entails helping lead the House GOP’s messaging efforts, would be to incorporate more lawmakers’ policy ideas into messaging. Donalds is considering bringing back “Tiger Teams,” which were utilized by former Vice President Mike Pence when he served in the role.
“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.
“So, a lot of our older members want to get more involved. It’s a whole team thing. So, that’s why part of what Byron’s gonna put together, one of our ideas is bringing back the Tiger Teams from … Pence’s day when he was conference chair — we had like four or five members who knew, let’s say, healthcare, and they would kind of function like a rapid response team for any breaking policy issue, and they could go out on TV and radio and help [the] conference message it because they know best.”
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Some within the Donalds camp are predicting the numbers may be closer than some are projecting, with multiple sources stating they believe he’s within striking distance of winning and think the margins will be significantly closer than the previous race between Stefanik and Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) to replace Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) in the role.
“I think it is closer than Stefanik world would like to admit. I think she probably could still be considered the favorite, but certainly, as the conference moves right — and that’s more where Byron is,” one source familiar with the race said. “You know, she has certain — you know, in my view, to her credit, she’s definitely moved right on a lot of things. But Byron is for sure more right than her.”
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.
“Byron is extremely talented. Everyone likes him,” one senior GOP lawmaker said. “I can see him getting some support from the Freedom Caucus, I can see him getting some support from his class, but I don’t see anybody getting past Elise.”
With the leadership election being conducted via closed ballot, sources familiar with leadership and steering proceedings noted that it’s easy to tell two candidates you are supporting them when the vote isn’t on the record, which could skew both camps’ whip numbers.
“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.”
“The rule here is you can count your noes and not count your yeses,” another senior House staffer added. “If they’ve got 100 yeses and 100 noes, that means that they have 100 noes and zero yeses and vice versa.”
While multiple lawmakers said ousting the New York Republican from her leadership post would be a difficult feat, two conservative members said there are frustrations with Stefanik backtracking on her pledge to serve only one term in the position, which could give Donalds a bump in support.
While seven Republican lawmakers and four senior GOP aides confirmed the term limit pledge was discussed during her last bid, the Stefanik camp has denied that she vowed not to seek another term in the position, previously telling Politico, “She never committed to only running for one term.”
One source familiar with the race said that Stefanik is placing her focus on winning back the majority over the leadership race but noted that key members have publicly backed her, and they are confident in their numbers.
“When she did announce her intention to run for this after the election, we locked up support from the leadership and an overwhelming amount of the conference immediately within an hour. So, you know, we’re focused on making sure we actually have the majority,” they said.
