His only opposition bowed out of the race last weekend. Now, University of Michigan Regent Ron Weiser is in line to succeed Ronna Romney McDaniel as chairman of Michigan's Republican Party.
McDaniel is the new head of the Republican National Committee.
Weiser was state party chair from 2009-11 and he joined Stateside to talk about the job, the state of the Republican Party and why it was "duty not desire" that drove him back to the chairman role.
"I worked hard in 2009 and 2010 to turn what is normally a blue state into a red state and I think that in 2018 it's going to be a very difficult election cycle," said Weiser. "So I felt it was important that we had somebody there who had the experience and background, and management skills to do it again."
His mission statement going forward is simple: "Just win, fair and square."
Listen to the full interview above to hear about the challenges facing Republicans on the road to 2018, his assessment of the early days of the Donald Trump administration ("tweetmaster of all times"), and how Ronna Romney McDaniel's position as national party chair could help the state of Michigan.
(Subscribe to the Stateside podcast on iTunes, Google Play, or with this RSS link)
