A Lexington Republican who has spent years climbing the ranks of the national party is now taking on the man President Donald Trump wants to keep in charge of it. KC Crosbie has announced a bid to become chairwoman of the Republican National Committee just days after the GOP lost control of both the U.S. House and Senate in the November 3 midterm elections, setting up a clash with RNC co-chair Joe Gruters.
Crosbie Calls For An Honest Reckoning
In a letter sent Thursday to party members, Crosbie argued that Republicans needed to take a hard look at what went wrong. According to kentucky.com, she wrote that the results were a serious setback and that the GOP owed itself an honest account of why. She went further, saying she believes the RNC has fallen short of its responsibility to its members and that she hopes to see that change.
Crosbie is not a newcomer to RNC leadership. She has served as Kentucky's GOP national committeewoman since 2012, and per the same letter cited by kentucky.com, she was elected RNC co-chair in January 2025 after serving as the committee's treasurer. The gop.com leadership page confirms she took over as treasurer in January 2023 before moving into the co-chair role two years later.
Trump Backs Gruters, Leaves Out The Election Results
President Trump praised and endorsed Gruters, saying he expects him to do an incredible job in 2028 and secure great success for Republicans across the country. The endorsement looked ahead to 2028 and Republican success.
That framing stands in contrast to Crosbie's own message, which was built almost entirely around the party's recent losses. Whether the president's endorsement settles the matter is still an open question, since RNC rules state that it is the committee's own members, not the president, who formally elect the chair.
This isn't the first time an RNC chair race has turned into a referendum on the committee's performance. When Ronna McDaniel won a fourth term as chair in January 2023, the two-month race, as Politico reported at the time, sparked fierce debate over how the RNC had managed its finances and fared in recent elections before McDaniel ultimately defeated Harmeet Dhillon 111 votes to 51, with Mike Lindell picking up four votes. McDaniel had to assemble an aggressive whip operation to shore up support ahead of that vote, Politico noted, a reminder that even sitting chairs with establishment backing can face real fights for the gavel.
Whether Crosbie's challenge turns into a similarly drawn-out contest remains to be seen. For now, the fight pits a Kentucky committeewoman with a decade-plus of party service against a president's public backing of RNC co-chair Joe Gruters - with the committee's own members holding the final say when voting convenes.
