Jan. 27, 2023: Is there an RNC shocker in the making?

POLITICO Playbook Daily Briefing

Later this morning, RNC members here at a five-star resort on the Pacific Ocean will pile into a private conference room and elect the organization’s next chair after a weekslong, bitter campaign pitting incumbent Ronna McDaniel against top challenger Harmeet Dhillon.

While McDaniel remains the favorite, Dhillon’s team has been working overtime since they arrived, and there are unmistakable signs she’s made headway. Just days ago, she had fewer than 30 of the 168 RNC members publicly endorsing her compared to more than 100 who had backed McDaniel in an open letter after the midterms.

The race’s new fluidity comes as members wrangle with one big question in increasingly urgent tones: What does this race say about Donald Trump's hold on the GOP?

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