1.  Michael Steele has been elected as the new Chairman of the Republican National Committee. 

It took six ballots for Steele to emerge with a majority.  Chip Saltsman, former campaign manager for Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign and former chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party, withdrew the day before the balloting. 

Here's how the voting went round-by-round in the election for the remaining contenders:

                            1st                   2nd                  3rd                  4th                   5th       6th

Mike Duncan           52                    48                    44                    ---                    ---        ---
Incumbent

Katon Dawson         28                    29                    34                    62                    69        77
South Carolina

Saul Anuzis             22                    24                    24                    31                    20        ---
Michigan

Michael Steele         46                    48                    51                    60                    79        91
Maryland

Ken Blackwell           20                    19                    15                    15                    ---        ---
Ohio

Duncan withdrew after the 3rd ballot with Dawson the strong beneficiary on the next round. 

Dawson took the lead in the 4th ballot.  Blackwell then dropped out and endorsed Steele.  Liberal blogs later noted that Blackwell's support by several prominent movement conservatives did not seem to have helped him.

Steele regained the lead on the 5 th ballot and Anuzis dropped out.  On the 6th ballot, there were only two candidates left and Steele beat Dawson 91-77.

Jan Larimer was elected Co-Chairman of the RNC.  She has been a National Committeewoman from Wyoming since 1988.

2.  Liberal Republican appointed to New Hampshire Senate seat. 

GOP Senator Judd Gregg accepted President Obama's offer to become Secretary of Commerce under the unusual condition that Democratic Governor John Lynch appoint a Republican to replace him.

Lynch then named J. Bonnie Newman, 63, former executive dean at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, to fill the seat until the next election.  She said she had "no interest in seeking the office in 2010."

Newman is expected to be more liberal than Gregg, who has a lifetime rating of 78% from the American Conservative Union.  She described herself as "a reasonable Republican" and said, "Some of you might call me a moderate."

Democratic State Senator Lou D'Allesandro, who has known Newman for 40 years, told the publication, CQ, that he believed she would be "more moderate" than Gregg, especially on abortion.  And former Republican State Chairman Fergus Cullen said Newman believes in government activism much more than Gregg.

Gregg is expected to try to sell Obama's economic plans to Republicans in Congress.   Senator Robert Bennett (R-UT) said that Gregg "will no longer be a free agent.  He will be carrying whatever water the President gives him to carry."

With Republicans holding only 41 Senate seats, the replacement of Gregg with Newman, while not changing those numbers, is a setback for conservatism.