Steele Elected Republican Party Chairman

It took six ballots, but former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele is the new chairman of the Republican National Committee, the first African-American to hold the position.

Steele defeated South Carolina GOP Chairman Katon Dawson, who was dogged throughout the campaign by his affiliation with at least two “whites only” social organizations.

Of course Steele has plenty of baggage himself, having essentially run the Republicans’ top political action committee into the ground in recent years.

Anyway, it appeared earlier in the day that Dawson might win the race after former RNC Chairman Mike Duncan dropped out after the third ballot, but a late endorsement from former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell (another black RNC candidate) helped propel Steele to victory on the sixth and final ballot – some five hours after voting began.

The final tally was 91 votes for Steele, 77 for Dawson.

Of course, what’s truly amazing isn’t that Steele emerged victorious, it’s that a 1990-era hack like Dawson actually received almost half the votes.

Now the fallout turns to Dawson’s home state, where he faces a party in chaos and an uncertain future as its leader.

After all, it was one of Dawson’s Palmetto State rivals, “GOP” consultant Warren Tompkins, who allegedly leaked the “whites only” story to the mainstream media last fall after getting cut out of the party’s war chest.

Rest assured, if Dawson runs for State Party Chairman again he will face formidable opposition from the Tompkins machine, which has a history of exacting multiple pounds of flesh from its political rivals.

Updated – Less than a minute after the voting ended, Steele’s Wikipedia Page shows him as Chairman. Damn, Wikipedia is fast!

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