Cino Close to Announcing RNC Chair Bid

A GOP source close to Maria Cino tells FrumForum that she is "strongly considering" announcing a bid for RNC Chair shortly after Thanksgiving.

A Republican source close to Maria Cino’s thinking tells FrumForum that she is "strongly considering" announcing her bid for RNC Chair “shortly after Thanksgiving”.

“I can confirm that she’s giving it serious consideration and has begun calling some members, and she’s trying to do this the right way and be thoughtful in her approach,” said one Republican source.

“I think it’s pretty likely [that she will run],” Delaware National Committeewoman Priscilla Rakestraw told FrumForum.  Rakestraw added that she has talked to Cino about a potential bid. “We have had many conversations, although Maria has not yet announced and has not officially asked for my support.”

“She’s talked to me,” said Tony Parker, the National Committeeman for the District of Columbia. “I absolutely love Maria Cino – I think she’s absolutely fabulous, [but] I have not made a decision as to who I would support. Am I delighted that she’s interested? Absolutely. Do I think she would make a terrific chairman? Absolutely.”

“She’s clearly a terrific manager... She’s well respected and knows a lot of the members,” continued Parker, who met Cino when his wife worked at the RNC. “There are just some people who love the institution [of the RNC], and I know Maria loves the institution.”

Maria Cino has an extensive range of experience working in Republican institutions. She’s worked as the former Deputy Chair of the RNC, was the executive director of the NRCC during the 1994 Republican revolution, and has been involved in some substantial way in all of the last three presidential elections.

In 2008, Cino ran the Republican convention. “She’s a strong leader with unbending principles and a willingness to listen,” said Rakestraw. “The 2008 convention just ran like clockwork.”

“I think… she could groom the next generation of operatives – there’s going to be professionalism and morale and accountability. She has the ability also to bring back major donors. She has tremendous experience. Day one, she would be ready to lead,” said one Republican strategist who has worked with Cino in the past.

Maria Cino, who hails from Buffalo, NY,  but currently lives just outside of Washington, D.C. in Virginia, will likely face questions about how conservative she is, and whether she is ‘the Boehner candidate’. Boehner is known to be good friends with Cino, and recently praised her at a Republican fundraiser in Washington, D.C.

But those who know her claim that her conservative credentials are solid. “I have never, having known her for fifteen years, heard anyone question her conservative credentials. I think she is very conservative,” said Rakestraw, the Delaware National Committeewoman.

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