- RNC chairman Michael Steele
Michael Steele of Maryland, the chairman of the Republican National Committee and the first African American to hold that position, will be keynote speaker for the Shelby County Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Day dinner next year. The dinner, preeminent event on the Republicans’ social calendar, both in Shelby County and elsewhere, will be held March 6, 2010, at the University of Memphis Holiday Inn on Central Avenue.
The announcement was made at Saturday’s annual Shelby County Republican Christmas Party, held this year at the home of John and Sue Williams in Germantown. Local GOP chairman credited Memphis lawyer John Ryder with arranging for Steele’s presence at the event. Ryder, a member of the Republican National Committee, was named last year as the director of the Republican’s nationwide re-dsitricting effort
