Michael Steele is running for a second term as RNC chair

Michael Steele isn't going away quietly. Despite earlier rumors to the contrary, the embattled Republican National Committee chairman told a conference call of GOP officials tonight that he will seek another term as RNC chair.

"Yes, I have stumbled along the way, but have always accounted to you for such shortcomings," Steele said, per a prepared statement obtained by Politico's Mike Allen. "No excuses, no lies, no hidden agenda."

The RNC chairman spent nearly a half-hour defending his tenure, trashing critics who talked "smack" about his troubled fund-raising efforts. He urged GOP officials not to "look backwards" and to allow him to "finish" the job he'd started. "Our work is not done," Steele said. "My commitment has not ended."

Yet Steele faces a tough road ahead in what is an increasingly crowded RNC chair race. Already, five Republicans are vying to replace him, while another two are eying the race. An informal survey last month of voting RNC members by the Associated Press's Phil Elliott found that most oppose a second term for Steele.

(Photo of Steele by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)