Ann Wagner jumps in RNC chairman race

Another candidate has officially jumped into the race to run for chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Ann Wagner, a former RNC committee member who most recently served as chairman of Missouri Rep. Roy Blunt’s U.S. Senate campaign, announced her candidacy to the 168 members of the committee on her website Monday.

Current chairman Michael Steele has not yet said whether he’ll run for re-election. Members of the committee will elect a chairman in January.

In her announcement, Wagner alluded to the recurring complaints about Steele’s management of the RNC’s finances during his tenure.

“We must start immediately to erase past debt and to restore the confidence of our donor base,” she said. “We must have these resources in order to take back the White House and complete the job that was started this year. Fundraising must come first. We also must have greater transparency and accountability when it comes to the RNC’s budget and expenditures.”

She says she’s “served [the] party at all levels,” including  working as the Lafayette Township committeewoman in St. Louis County, chairman of the Missouri Republican Party and co-chairman of the Republican National Committee.

“Yes, I am a political operative – but more than that, I’m a devoted wife and mother from the middle of America,” she says.

The long list of those who have announced their candidacies or have been mentioned as possible candidates includes: former Michigan GOP chairman Saul Anuzis; former Steele aide Gentry Collins; former Bush administration official Maria Cino; Wisconsin GOP chairman Reince Priebus; former RNC chairman Mike Duncan; former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman; RGA executive director Nick Ayers; Connecticut GOP chairman Chris Healy and California GOP chairman Ron Nehring.