Michael Steele will be the new chairman of the Republican National Committee. The former lieutenant governor of Maryland and unsuccessful U.S. Senate candidate staved off four other contenders for the post. Steele was seen as the least conservative of the candidates and ran on a platform of shaking up the party.

It took six ballots for Steele to garner the necessary 85 votes to win, finally beating back South Carolina GOP chair Katon Dawson by a 91-77 margin. Current chair Mike Duncan led on the first ballot with 52 votes, but his support steadily eroded, and he dropped out after the third round. Steele got a key boost when former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell dropped out after the fourth ballot and endorsed the eventual victory.