A message from the new leader of the party — or rather, the other new leader. It wasn’t easy getting here:

Steele won after a highly coordinated yet under-the-radar campaign in which his whip team sought to convince members that the RNC needed to reach out to centrist voters with a new voice.

He hop-scotched the country for months, meeting with members in their home states. At a candidates’ forum Thursday night, Steele said he had raised about $250,000, making the race for RNC chairman likely the most expensive per capita in history.

Quote: “To my friends in the northeast: Get ready, baby, it’s time to turn it on.”