The 2009 Republican National Committee chairmanship election started out as a six-way race, and ended on the sixth ballot with

Michael Steele Michael Stephen Steele (born October 19, 1958) is an American political commentator, attorney, and Republican Party politician. Steele served as the seventh lieutenant governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007; he was the first African-American ...

becoming the first African-American chairman of the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in ...

. ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughou ...

'' called it the "'Dirtiest ever' race for RNC chairman."

Pre-campaign

On November 11, 2008, Jeff Burton launched a

political draft In elections in the United States, political drafts are used to encourage or pressure a certain person to enter a political race, by demonstrating a significant groundswell of support for the candidate. History 20th century Movements to draft ...

website to encourage Steele to run for

Chairman. The website allowed visitors to sign a draft petition, and received over 6,000 signatures.

Campaign

Katon Dawson Katon Edwards Dawson (born February 29, 1956) is an American politician from the state of South Carolina, former chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party and was a 2009 candidate for chairman of the Republican National Committee. Early l ...

announced his official bid on November 24, 2008. Dawson was one of two candidates to earn votes on each of the six votes taken; he lost the final ballot to winner

, 91–77. On November 24, 2008, Steele launched his own campaign website, and confirmed his intention to run on ''

Hannity and Colmes ''Hannity & Colmes'' was a live television show on Fox News in the United States, hosted by Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes, who respectively presented a conservative and liberal perspective. The series premiered on October 7, 1996, and the final epi ...

''. Steele, seen as an early frontrunner, rejected the idea that the color of his skin had anything to do with his chances at becoming RNC chair, saying, "I am a Republican who happens to be African-American."

Chip Saltsman John Bruce "Chip" Saltsman Jr. (born March 24, 1968) is an American politician who has served as chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party from 1999 to 2001, senior political advisor to former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, and manager of ...

was the first candidate to release a specific plan regarding the future of the party, which can be viewed at Our Plan for Republican Victory. In his bid for the RNC Chairmanship, Saltsman had been endorsed by: former Republican presidential candidate Governor Mike Huckabee, former United States Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Tennessee Lt. Governor

Ron Ramsey Ronald Lynn Ramsey (; born November 20, 1955) is an American auctioneer, politician, and lobbyist, who served as the 49th lieutenant governor of Tennessee and speaker of the State Senate from 2007 to 2017. A Republican from Blountville in Eas ...

, and Tennessee House Majority Leader

Jason Mumpower Jason Everett Mumpower (born September 22, 1973) currently serves as Tennessee's 35th Comptroller of the Treasury. He was first elected to the position by the Tennessee General Assembly on January 13, 2021. He is responsible for leading the Off ...

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

reported that, "half of the candidates to lead the Republican National Committee (RNC) are Southerners: current Chairman Mike Duncan of Kentucky, South Carolina Chairman

and former Tennessee chairman

. Former Ohio secretary of State

Ken Blackwell John Kenneth Blackwell (born February 28, 1948) is an American politician, author, and conservative activist who served as the mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio (1979–80), the Ohio State Treasurer (1994–99), and Ohio Secretary of State (1999–2007) ...

and former Maryland lieutenant governor Michael Steele are black.

Saul Anuzis Saulius "Saul" Anuzis (born March 6, 1959) is the president of the 60 Plus Association and a Republican Party politician from the U.S. State of Michigan. He was chairman of the Michigan Republican Party from 2005–2009 and was also a candidate ...

, the Michigan GOP chairman, is a Harley-Davidson rider, an ex-union member and the son of an autoworker.

"Barack the Magic Negro" controversy

For Christmas 2008, Chip Saltsman sent members of the Republican National Committee a music CD of 41 songs that included one entitled "Barack the Magic Negro" set to the tune of "

Puff, the Magic Dragon "Puff, the Magic Dragon" (or just "Puff") is a song written by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary from a poem by Leonard Lipton. It was made popular by Yarrow's group in a 1962 recording released in January 1963. Lipton wrote a poem about a ...

". The origin of the song was the title a Los Angeles Times column, written by

David Ehrenstein David Ehrenstein (born February 18, 1947) is an American critic who focuses primarily on gay issues in cinema. Life and career Ehrenstein was born in New York City. His father was a Jew with Polish ancestors, and his mother was half-black and ha ...

in March 2007 that criticized the reception that Obama, a long shot candidate at the time, was getting in white America; Ehrenstein described the image of Obama in white America as that of a

Magical Negro The Magical Negro is a trope in American cinema, television, and literature. In the cinema of the United States, the Magical Negro is a supporting stock character who comes to the aid of white protagonists in a film. Magical Negro characters, w ...

, a stereotypical gentle black man who helps white people, often used in movies created by white people.

Rush Limbaugh Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American conservative political commentator who was the host of '' The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nationally syndicated on AM and FM r ...

commented on the column the day it published, and interpreted it as criticizing Obama himself, called the column an example of "the racism of the left," and sang the words, "Barack the Magic Negro", to the tune of "Puff the Magic Dragon."Rush Limbaugh Show Transcript. March 19, 200
Liberal Calls Obama "Magic Negro"
/ref> Shortly after that Paul Shanklin recorded a song about Barack the Magic Negro set to that same tune, which Limbaugh played numerous times throughout the 2008 presidential election season. This is the song that Saltsman included on his CD. Saltsman's campaign imploded as a result of the controversy caused by the CD, and he withdrew from the race.

Voting

The election was decided in late January after six rounds of voting, with Steele elected chairman by a majority vote of the 168 committee members. : Candidate won that round of voting : Candidate withdrew : Candidate won RNC Chairmanship After the third round of balloting Duncan dropped out of contention without endorsing a candidate. Ken Blackwell, the only other African-American candidate, dropped out after the fourth ballot and endorsed Steele, though Blackwell had been the most socially conservative of the candidates and Steele had been accused of not being "sufficiently conservative." Steele picked up Blackwell's votes. After the fifth round, Steele held a ten-vote lead over Katon Dawson, with 79 votes, and Saul Anuzis dropped out.

The sixth round

The final push that led to Steele's win was from the eight voters from the

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Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internatio ...

and the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands ( es, Islas Vírgenes) are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Cro ...

, who switched to Steele after Anuzis dropped out. Steele won the chairmanship of the RNC in the sixth round, with 91 votes to Dawson's 77.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2009 Republican National Committee Chairmanship Election Michael Steele National Committee Republican National Committee Chairmanship Election Republican Party (United States) leadership elections Chairmanship election, 2009 Republican National Committee Chairmanship Election Republican National Committee chairmanship election