Alex Pappas of the Daily Caller reports that for the first time in history, a woman may be elected chair of the College National Republican Committee.

College Republicans poised to elect first female national chair

The College Republican National Committee could finally elect a woman to serve as its national chair for the first time in its history.

Alex Smith, who serves as national co-chair of the committee, plans to announce her candidacy for the top committee leadership spot on Tuesday, The Daily Caller has learned.

She will announce that she has already lined up widespread support from the voting college Republicans across the country, including commitments from at least 30 state chairmen. The election for the full-time two-year gig is slated to occur during the organization’s June convention.

In an interview with TheDC, Smith said she would be the first female formally elected to lead the organization. A female took over during another person’s term in the 1940s, she said, but was not elected.

“The organization is 120 years old and to date, the national board has never elected a female to serve as the national chairman,” Smith said.

She acknowledges that the independent 527 group with 250,000 members on 1,800 campuses could play an important role as Republicans work to woo minority and young voters in elections.

“We have to increase our lead among younger voters,” Smith said. “We have to get out and especially talk to female voters and minority voters if we want to stay alive as a party.”

Smith, 23, was elected to the CRNC leadership position in July 2011. She is a second-year law student and would defer her third year of school if elected, she said.