Collins Announces RNC Chair Bid

FrumForum has learned that former RNC Political Director Gentry Collins will formally announce his candidacy for RNC chairman today.

Former RNC Political Director Gentry Collins is formally jumping into the race for RNC chairman today, announcing his candidacy after about a month of consulting with RNC members.

“He’s going to send out an announcement to all the 168 members of the RNC,” Connecticut GOP chair Chris Healy, who has already endorsed Collins and has spoken to him about the coming announcement, told FrumForum. “That’s my understanding… he’s got a good response from members, and [since] that’s the case, that’s why he’s going to formally announce."

Gentry Collins' announcement comes weeks after he resigned from his position at the Republican National Committee with a letter critical of incumbent Chairman Michael Steele. In his letter, which FrumForum was the first to obtain and publish, Collins delivered a rebuke to Steele's claims that the RNC fundraising house was in order.

“For the 2010 election year itself, RNC cash transfers to state parties for political purposes were just $13.1 million -- less than a quarter of the $56.7 million cash transfers to state parties in 2006 for political purposes... And in 2010, the RNC went $15 million into debt to fund these programs," Collins wrote. "[The $170 million raised by the RNC] do not result from personal solicitation by the Chairman but, like other macro-political trends, are reflective of the anti-Obama/Pelosi/Reid wave that drove energy and intensity to historic highs this cycle.”

The announcement comes at a time of uncertainty in the RNC race as candidates and RNC members alike speculate as to whether incumbent Chairman Michael Steele will enter the race. He is expected to announce his intentions on a conference call with RNC members tonight at 7:30 - although no one really knows for sure what he will say.

A call to Gentry Collins was not immediately returned.

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Update:

From Collins:

We must have a chairman who is laser-focused on raising the resources necessary to win, who brings concrete plans to unify our party and drive the positive energy for conservative change to productive outcomes, and who has a career-long record of winning tough races in tough cycles in swing states.

That is why today I am announcing my candidacy for Chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Read full text of Collins' announcement letter here.

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