As Republican National Committee members began arriving at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C., for their winter meeting, there was a growing sentiment against the White House’s choice of Sen. Mel Martinez (R.-Fla.) as RNC “general chairman” and Kentucky RNC Member Mike Duncan as operating head of the committee.

The latest of the committee to join the “Stop Mel” forces was just-elected North Carolina State GOP Chairman Linda Daves. When I asked Daves what she thought of the White House’s choice of a collective leadership to succeed outgoing National Chairman Ken Mehlman, Daves told me: “I don’t particularly like it. Sen. Martinez doesn’t represent the views of my state on illegal immigration.”

When I pressed Daves (who is attending her first-ever RNC meeting) whether or not she would go along with Martinez when the vote for chairman is taken tomorrow morning, she replied without hesitation: “I won’t vote for him.”

Another RNC member who requested anonymity would not go as far as to commit to a no vote, but expressed dismay with the choice of a sitting elected official as the party’s ceremonial head: “I want a full-time senator from my state and devoting time to the chairmanship means you don’t have a full-time senator. Besides, as a senator, Mel Martinez can already go on the Sunday talk shows without having to be party chairman as well.”

The latest dissent over the Martinez-Duncan arrangement comes as the Washington Times reported earlier that two of the RNC members from President Bush’s home state of Texas—Chairman Tina Benkiser and National Committeewoman Denise McNamara—denounced the choice of the pro-amnesty-for-illegal immigrant Floridian for the party helm. In addition, the Virginia-based English First group has created a website, StopMartinez.com, that denounces the senator for his stand on illegal immigration and opposition to English as the official language of the U.S.