HRP CHAIRMAN KAAUWAI CONGRATULATES NEW RNC CHAIRMAN PRIEBUS AND THANKS FORMER CHAIRMAN STEELE 

News Release from www.GOPHawaii.com

Hawaii Republican Party Chairman Jonah Kaauwai released the following statement today in reaction to the election of Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus. 

“I would like to congratulate our new RNC Chairman on his election.  I am proud to have joined the other Island members of the RNC in voting for Chairman Priebus.  We recognized that Reince is a proven winner and the effective leader the RNC needs going into the 2012 election.  I look forward to working with him to take back the majority in the US Senate and win back the White House.  I would also like to thank former Chairman Michael Steele for his service to our party and country.  Chairman Steele supported Hawaii like no other RNC Chairman in history and we will forever be grateful.  I wish Michael well on his future endeavors, our country needs more leaders like him.”

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Wa Times: Steele's departure fortifies GOP strategy for 2012; Priebus elected chair

Wisconsin GOP Chairman Reince Priebus has been elected the new chairman of the Republican National Committee, offering a fresh face and the promise of a new management style for the party as it gears up for the 2012 presidential election cycle….

Mr. Priebus, whose candidacy was widely seen as having the support of influential Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a former RNC chairman, won on the seventh ballot, after a spirited campaign in which Mr. Steele's rivals argued the RNC had lost financial clout and credibility during his tenure. The youngest chairman ever of the Wisconsin GOP, the 37-year-old Kenosha, Wisc., native served for a time as RNC general counsel under Mr. Steele before resigning to challenge his former boss.

The Hill: Steele drops out of race; Priebus is the new Republican Party chairman

Reince Priebus is the new chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Priebus won with 97 votes in the seventh round of voting. Priebus, the chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party, was the leader from the first ballot, and was the only candidate to not lose any supporters as voting progressed Friday afternoon….

Priebus entered the Friday balloting as the front-runner, having collected some 40 public endorsements. In addition to the backing of committee members, he has the support of high-profile Wisconsin Republicans including Rep. Paul Ryan, the House Budget Committee chairman.