CNN —Shortly before announcing her campaign against Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel, Harmeet Dhillon, a well-connected conservative attorney, phoned an important ally to solicit his thoughts. Republican voters and local officials have bombarded committee members with emails and calls about the party’s next chair, often berating them directly for the GOP’s underwhelming performance in the midterms, according to four committee members who requested anonymity to describe their experience. During the same period, her law firm received nearly $900,000 from the RNC, federal election data shows. We are all independent thinkers, and we know what’s best for our states,” said Jeff Kent, a committee member from Washington. “It’s very hard to beat an incumbent RNC chair if that incumbent wants to stay,” said Bill Palatucci, a New Jersey committeeman.

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