Todd Ricketts is expected to be named the next finance chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC).
Unnamed sources at the RNC are fanning reports of Rickett’s selection to major media outlets, including CNN, Washington Examiner, the Washington Post and Bloomberg. The organization also considered RNC deputy finance chairman Louis DeJoy and billionaire confidant to President Donald Trump, Tom Barrack, for the position.
A co-owner of the Chicago Cubs and former investment banker, Ricketts was the president’s first pick for deputy commerce secretary. He was also rumored to helm the Heritage Foundation—a free market think tank in Washington, D.C. that elected its first African-American president last month.
Rickett’s appointment comes following the resignation of the RNC’s former finance chair Steve Wynn in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
A Las Vegas casino magnate and the chairman of Wynn Resorts, Wynn set an RNC fundraising record last year by bringing in $113 million in donations. By contrast, the Democratic National Committee raised $55 million, roughly half of the RNC.
Having reportedly accepted the position, Ricketts will be tasked with building a network of Republican donors, while overseeing hundreds of millions of dollars in donations each year.
