Reince Priebus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Unbalanced scales.svg
 The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (July 2012)
Reince Priebus
65th Chairman of the Republican National Committee
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 20, 2011
Preceded by Michael Steele
Personal details
Born Reinhold Reince Priebus
(1972-03-18) March 18, 1972 (age 40)
Dover, New Jersey, U.S.[1]
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Sally Priebus (two children)
Alma mater University of Wisconsin–Whitewater
University of Miami School of Law
Occupation Lawyer
Religion Greek Orthodox
Website Reince Priebus' blogsite

Reinhold Reince Priebus (born March 18, 1972) is the Chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Priebus was born Reinhold Reince Priebus in Dover, New Jersey, the son of Dimitra and Roula Priebus, a former union electrician who works in real estate.[2][3] He is of German and Greek descent.[4] His name is pronounced RHINEtz PREE-bus.[5] He became politically engaged at age 16, volunteering for several campaigns throughout high school.[6] After graduating from high school, he attended the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he majored in English and political science, and joined the Delta Chi fraternity. He graduated cum laude in 1994, and prior to that had been elected to serve as student body president.[3]

[edit] Professional life

After graduation from Whitewater, Priebus served as a clerk for the Wisconsin State Assembly Education Committee. He then enrolled at the University of Miami School of Law in Coral Gables, Florida. In 1998, Priebus graduated with a J.D. degree cum laude from the University of Miami after serving as President of the Student Bar Association. He moved back to Wisconsin and became a member of the State Bar, and subsequently joined Michael Best & Friedrich, a Wisconsin law firm, where he eventually became a partner, practicing in the firm's government and public policy division.[3]

[edit] Race for Chairman

Main article: Republican National Committee chairmanship election, 2011

On Sunday December 5, 2010, Priebus stepped down as General Counsel for the Republican National Committee. The next day he sent a letter to all 168 voting members of the RNC announcing his race for Chairman. Supporting his bid from the beginning was Governor Scott Walker who attributed the party's victories in Wisconsin to "Priebus' leadership and involvement in the grassroots Tea Party movement that swept the state and the nation".[7] Priebus told delegates in his letter: "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."[8]

On January 14, 2011, after seven rounds of voting, Priebus was elected Chairman of the Republican National Committee; incumbent Chairman Michael Steele, the party's first African-American Chairman, had bowed out of the race after trailing in the early rounds of voting. In his remarks, Priebus praised the outgoing chairman, for whom he had served as general counsel, saying: "I want to thank Chairman Steele for his leadership over the past two years. Thank you."[9]

[edit] Running the RNC

As Chairman of the RNC, Priebus has performed a turnaround. Priebus had inherited a $24 million debt from his predecessor Michael Steele, as well as severely strained relationships with "major donors". By the end of 2011, however, Priebus had improved the financial situation at the RNC, raising more than $50 million. He cut the RNC debt in half, from over $20 million to $11.8 million.[10] "He's completely restored faith at the RNC amongst donors and activists, he's been on message and he has done a great job raising money, which is the principle role of the RNC chairman", said Ed Gillespie, who headed the committee in 2003 and 2004. "With Reince, it's not about him—it's about building the committee and the party."[11]

Priebus has frequently taken aim at President Obama.[12] He is often sought after to contribute in print material as well as television. During the Presidential primary of 2012, Priebus and his RNC team were often credited with keeping the focus on President Obama.[13] Priebus has been actively engaged in pointing out errors and shortcomings in the work of both President Obama and democratic leaders.[14] In 2012 Chairman Priebus made several appearances on the Sunday political talk shows, including Meet the Press, Face the Nation, Fox News Sunday, and CNN's State of the Union with Candy Crowley.[15][16]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "RNC Chairman Priebus touts his Jersey cred". Asbury Park Press. http://http://blogs.app.com/capitolquickies/2012/08/30/rnc-chairman-priebus-touts-his-jersey-cred/. Retrieved August 30, 2012. 
  2. ^ Gilbert, Craig (February 15, 2009). "GOP makeover gets fresh Wisconsin face State's party chairman working with new RNC chief". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MWSB&p_theme=mwsb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=12661ADA73125F10&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved August 29, 2012. 
  3. ^ a b c "10 Things You Didn't Know About Reince Priebus". U.S. News. http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2011/01/24/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-reince-priebus. Retrieved 2012-07-27. 
  4. ^ Zeleny, Jeff (15 January 2011). "G.O.P. Leader’s Promise: Humility and Hard Work". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/us/politics/16repubs.html?_r=1. Retrieved 29 August 2012. 
  5. ^ Schouten, Fredreka (January 21, 2011). "Reince Priebus: Fundraising top job as RNC chairman". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2011-01-21-priebus21_ST_N.htm. Retrieved September 12, 2012. 
  6. ^ "Reince Priebus". the Business Journal. http://www.michaelbest.com/files/Uploads/Documents/News/Reprint_40%20Under%20Forty%202008%20-%20Reince%20Priebus.pdf. Retrieved February 22, 2008. 
  7. ^ "Wisconsin GOP head Priebus announces bid for RNC Chair". The Badger Herald. http://badgerherald.com/news/2010/12/07/wisconsin_gop_head_p.php. Retrieved December 7, 2010. 
  8. ^ "Wisconsin GOP Chair Reince Priebus Enters Race For RNC Chairman". ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2010/12/reince-priebus-rnc-chairman-michael-steele. Retrieved December 6, 2010. 
  9. ^ "Reince Priebus elected RNC chairman; Michael Steele ends bid". Politico. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47626_Page2.html. Retrieved January 20, 2011. 
  10. ^ "Chairman Priebus leads RNC revival: From $23M in the red to $7M in the black". The Hill. http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/211051-priebus-rnc-revival-from-23m-in-the-red-to-7m-in-the-black. Retrieved February 16, 2012. 
  11. ^ "Chairman Priebus leads RNC revival: From $23M in the red to $7M in the black". The Hill. http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/211051-priebus-rnc-revival-from-23m-in-the-red-to-7m-in-the-black. Retrieved February 16, 2012. 
  12. ^ "RNC ad takes on president over State of the Union". CNN. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/24/rnc-ad-takes-on-president-over-state-of-the-union/. Retrieved January 24, 2012. 
  13. ^ "RNC is keeping the focus where it belongs". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-insiders/post/rnc-is-keeping-the-focus-where-it-belongs/2012/01/25/gIQAUhJjQQ_blog.html. Retrieved January 25, 2012. 
  14. ^ "Busted! RNC catches Obama recycling rhetoric from past State of the Union speeches". Bill O'Reilly. http://billoreilly.com/video?chartID=554&vid=-202118046784317956. Retrieved January 25, 2012. 
  15. ^ "May 13: Reince Priebus, Martin O'Malley, Gavin Newsom, Al Cardenas, Kathleen Parker, Jonathan Capehart, Chris Matthews, Jamie Dimon". Meet the Press. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47403362/ns/meet_the_press-transcripts/t/may-reince-priebus-martin-omalley-gavin-newsom-al-cardenas-kathleen-parker-jonathan-capehart-chris-matthews-jamie-dimon/#.UBG1EalePe4. Retrieved May 13, 2012. 
  16. ^ "Face in the News: David Axelrod, Reince Priebus". Face the Nation. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3460_162-57446806/face-in-the-news-david-axelrod-reince-priebus/. Retrieved June 4, 2012. 

[edit] External links

Party political offices
Preceded by
Michael Steele		 Chairman of the Republican National Committee
January 20, 2011 – present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
Chairpersons
of the RNC
Presidential tickets
Parties by state
and territory
State
Territory
Conventions
(list)
Affiliated
organizations
Related articles
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reince_Priebus&oldid=514240007"
Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Interaction
Toolbox
Print/export
Languages