New GOP leader

WASHINGTON-One room, 168 Republican delegates, six hours, and a decision: Wisconsin GOP chair Reince Priebus will be the next chairman of the Republican National Committee, replacing Michael Steele.

"I want to thank God. I want to thank Jesus for this moment. I am so blessed," Priebus said after he won. "Together we must lead the way to a better committee and a better America."

Priebus led the Wisconsin GOP, which saw historic victories in November. Republicans took both state chambers, a U.S. Senate seat, several U.S. House seats, and the governorship. Priebus previously served as top lieutenant to Steele.

Few average Americans care two cents about who is running the RNC, but the chair will be important going into a presidential election. The RNC is $22 million in debt and by some estimates it will have to raise $700 million for the 2012 campaign, so the chair will have a central focus on fundraising.

The chair election itself was packed with drama-a five-way race that went through a series of votes, and hours of arm-twisting that resulted in a final winner. Historically, this is how U.S. presidential candidates were nominated too: a small group of delegates chose a candidate in a series of votes.

The votes were full of surprises: Steele, whom most had written off, won almost as many votes as the frontrunner, Priebus, in the first few rounds. But the RNC chair dropped out after the fourth round of voting and threw his backing to Maria Cino, a former Bush administration official who had the backing of House Speaker John Boehner and made a surprisingly strong showing in the votes.

"It's clear the party wants to do something a little different, and hopefully a little bit better," Steele said.

Steele supporters said the chair had been demonized for a few flubs in the media, and that he deserved credit for the Republican turnaround from utter defeat in 2008 to sweeping victories in 2010.

"Despite the noise . . . despite the difficulties, we won," Steele said upon leaving the race, sparking a standing ovation.

The RNC saw hard-won victories in gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey in 2009. But major donors were concerned after reports of the RNC mishandling funds, like paying for an evening with young donors at a California strip club.

Republicans elected Steele two years ago with a hope that he would remake the party's image: As the first African-American chairman, he was expected to excel as a communicator as the face of the party. Previously Steele served as Maryland's lieutenant governor, and was seen as a moderate who could woo independent voters.