Republican State Leadership Committee

The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) is a political organization designed to assist Republicans in capturing and holding control of state legislatures across the United States. The organization notably raised over $140 million from 2004 to 2014, working across the country. The RSLC's Democratic Party counterpart is the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC).[1]

The organization has stated that it "is the largest caucus of Republican state leaders in the country and the only national organization whose mission is to elect down-ballot, state-level Republican officeholders" with efforts focused on "the offices of lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state legislator, the judiciary and other down-ticket races." The RSLC has also asserted that they have "more than 150,000 donors in all 50 states."[2]

The RSLC President position is currently held by Matt Walter. The RSLC has functioned since 2002,[2] while their rivals in the DLCC got started after the 1992 elections.

After Ed Gillespie was announced chairman in January 2010, the RSLC is reported to have laundered $1.5 million from the Poarch Band of Creek Indians to Alabama Speaker Mike Hubbard and a group associated with Jack Abramoff.[3] From January 2010 to January 2014 the RSLC paid Gillespie $654,000.[3]

Political activist campaigns founded or co-founded by the RSLC include the "Judicial Fairness Initiative", the "Future Majority Project", and the "Right Women, Right Now" initiative.[2] As of the aftermath of the 2014 U.S. elections, the Republican Party controls 68 out of 98 partisan state legislative chambers in the country, with the RSLC a major part of the efforts to hold onto these chambers into the future.[1]

The RSLC is also the sponsoring organization of the .gop top-level Internet domain.[4][5]

History

The RSLC was established in 2002 with a leading Republican strategist Chris Jankowski as its "driving force". Through the RSLC Jankowski responded to the national fund-raising challenge faced by down-ballot state-level Republican candidates.[6][7][Notes 1]

See also

Notes
  1. By 2016, Jankowski was the "Executive Director of the RSLC’s REDistricting MAjority Project (REDMAP), a $20 million program that led the way in picking up nearly 700 legislative seats and 20 legislative chambers across the country."

References
  1. Byler, David (November 11, 2014). "The Other GOP Wave: State Legislatures". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  2. "Lamb, Bingman Named To National Panels". The McCarville Report. April 9, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  3. Burns, Alexander (August 4, 2014). "GOP group snared in money scheme". Politico. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  4. Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (December 12, 2014). "Delegation Record for .GOP". Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  5. Weathers, Cliff (July 9, 2014). "The 'Dot GOP' Domain Is the Newest — and a Very Funny — Internet Meme". Alternet. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  6. "Chris Jankowski Biography", Town Hall, nd, retrieved October 2, 2017
  7. "Understanding Congressional Gerrymandering: 'It's Moneyball Applied To Politics'". NPR. Fresh Air. June 15, 2016. Retrieved October 2, 2017.


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