The Republican National Committee selected Reince Priebus as its new chairman on Friday.
Priebus replaces Michael Steele, the former lieutenant governor of Maryland and the party's first African-American chairman whose two-year tenure was marked by high spending, financial debt and verbal gaffes.
Priebus, 38, is a former chair of the Wisconsin GOP and the committee's former general counsel.
During his campaign for the RNC Chairmanship, Priebus promised to put the RNC back on a sound financial footing:
I will run a tight ship at the RNC. I will keep expenses low. I will put in strong and serious controls. We will raise the necessary funds to make sure we are successful. We will work to regain the confidence of our donor base and I will personally call our major donors to ask them to rejoin our efforts at the RNC.
In Wisconsin, Priebus is known as a conservative who considers the TEA Party an extension of the state's Republican Party. In Wisconsin last year, Priebus worked with the TEA Party, joining forces to help the GOP carry all of the state's big races.
Republican Scott Walker, a former County of Milwaukee executive, defeated Democrat and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in the Wisconsin governor's race, replacing retiring Democrat Gov. James Doyle. Businessman Ron Johnson, defeated longtime Democrat U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold. Wisconsin Democrats also lost control of the state Assembly and Senate, yielding control of both houses to Republicans for the first time since 1998.
Politico’s Andy Barr and Alex Burns talk about the road ahead for RNC Chairman Reince Priebus in the following video:
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