(ID RNC Team Report, January 22, 2025)
At the January Idaho State GOP meeting, I announced that future reports on Republican National Committee meetings and RNC news updates would come jointly from me, your National Committeeman, Vicki Keen, your National Committeewoman, and Dorothy Moon, your State Chairwoman, because we all serve on the Republican National Committee (RNC) as Idaho’s “RNC Team.” The 2025 RNC Winter Meeting was held on January 16th and 17th at the Omni Shoreham hotel in Washington D.C., and we are providing this joint report of that meeting.
Elections of RNC Officers
The most significant business item on the agenda was the election of new officers. You may remember that we intended to survey the Idaho GOP Central Committee after learning who was running for various offices and learning from the Idaho GOP Central Committee its preferences on who to vote for. However, all the positions were not contested and were decided as follows:
- Chairman: Michael Whatley ran unopposed and was re-elected chairman.
- Vice-Chairman: K.C. Crosbie, the former treasurer, also ran unopposed and replaced Laura Trump as vice-chairman.
- Treasurer: Joe Gruters, Florida National Committeeman, was elected unopposed for Treasurer.
- Secretary: Vicki Drummond sought re-election and ran unopposed as well.
You should know that Chairman Whatley wanted to join the Trump Administration in some capacity. However, Trump announced that Chairman Whatley was doing such a great job that Trump wanted Chairman Whatley to continuing serving as the RNC Chairman. Trump also endorsed Joe Gruters.
General Session Highlights
During the General Session, several important updates and highlights were shared. First, the RNC was involved in 155 lawsuits in battleground states, with 3,500 attorneys working on these cases. Some of these cases are still pending, with Pennsylvania being the most litigated state post-election. The RNC provided significant legal efforts to prevent election fraud and strengthen election integrity.
These efforts made a significant difference in 2024. In the 2016 presidential race, Clinton received 66 million votes, and Trump received 63 million votes. In the 2020 presidential race, Biden received 81 million votes, and Trump received 74 million votes. In the 2024 presidential race, Harris received 75 million votes, and Trump received 77 million votes.
From this data, we know that in 2020, Biden received 15 million more votes than Clinton received in 2016. We also know that in 2024, Harris received 6 million fewer votes than Biden received in 2020. The question is why was there such a spike in 2020, and how did 6 million democrat votes just evaporate into thin air in 2024? The answer is that the RNC was working with states across the country and helped pass laws and filed lawsuits where necessary to strengthen election integrity.
The meeting further highlighted the results of the recent election:
- Donald Trump achieved a landslide victory with 312 electoral votes.
- He became the first Republican to win the popular vote since 2004.
- President Trump won all seven battleground states, flipped six states from 2020, and flipped four Senate seats.
- All 50 states shifted right, with high propensity voters favoring Trump by +1, mid-propensity voters by +7, and low propensity voters by +4.
- In Pennsylvania, the Team Trump program collected identification data on nearly four times as many supporters as in 2020.
- The RNC is working hard to improve their voter identification data in all states.
Final Thoughts
The 2025 RNC Winter Meeting was a time of celebration for the overwhelming victory in the recent election cycle. Attendees acknowledged the hard work that went into achieving these results and expressed excitement for the future under President Trump’s second administration. Everyone is looking forward to the positive impact and achievements that the Trump administration will bring to the country!
Sincerely,
Bryan D. Smith, Idaho National Committeeman
Vicki Keen, Idaho National Committeewoman
Dorothy Moon, Idaho Chairwoman
