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RNC Chair Whatley to Newsmax: 'Excited' About Vance as Finance Chair

By Sandy Fitzgerald | Thursday, 20 March 2025 09:38 AM EDT

The Republican National Committee is "very excited" about Vice President J.D. Vance coming aboard as its finance chair, as it gives the organization a boost while Congress works on implementing President Donald Trump's vision for the United States, RNC Chair Michael Whatley told Newsmax on Thursday.

"Obviously, J.D. Vance is a huge draw," Whatley said on "Wake Up America." "The vice president has been very popular all across the country."

Vance is the first sitting vice president in the RNC's history to become finance chair, which will give him a direct role in the 2026 midterm elections while building ties with top GOP donors.

"One of the things that we wanted to do is to make sure that we are communicating to everybody how close the RNC is going to work with the White House, work with the Trump administration," said Whatley. "Our priority in these midterms is to make sure that we are going to keep those majorities so that Congress is going to continue to work on implementing President Trump's vision for America, and this gives us a great leg up."

Meanwhile, the Republican Party is playing offense by trying to take back states and districts that voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in the last election, said Whatley.

"What we saw in the last election cycle was we won all seven battleground states," he said. "We moved states like New York, New Jersey, and California closer to the president."

And now, looking at the map in the Senate races, the GOP has the opportunity to pick up other key states, such as New Hampshire, Georgia, or Michigan, said Whatley.

"We're going to work hand in glove with all those candidates to make sure that they have the resources they need to be able to get across the line," he added.

Meanwhile, Whatley said that Michigan, a typically blue state, is "very ready to turn red."

"Michigan is going to be one of the most important swing states in this entire election, really, along with Georgia," Whatley said. "We've got a few others. But when you think about where we were in Michigan, it was one of the closest states in the entire presidential race. [Harris] won by less than a point with President Trump. We lost that Senate race by 18,000 votes."

This means efforts must continue "to get election integrity in place" in Michigan, Whatley added.

People in Georgia are also "very happy" with the Trump administration and how the president is keeping his promises.

"All of a sudden … all of the numbers are fantastic," he said. "It turns out we didn't need new laws. We just needed a different president."

Voters across the country are also "leaving the Democratic Party in droves," said Whatley.

"As long as they're going to be a party that is going to focus on open borders, they're going to focus on not deporting violent, illegal aliens, if they're going to be the ones that want inflationary spending in a poor economy and a weak America, they're going to lose voters," said Whatley. "They're going to continue to lose elections on the Republican side, as President Trump has said over and over and over again, we are going to be the party of common sense."

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