"[Steele] has never won elective office"
Michael Steele served as the lieutenant governor of Maryland from 2003-07, and was elected in that capacity.
Sorry, I was not clear enough (my bad!)
Mike Steele has never won elective office on his own. He was great on the ticket with Bob Ehrlich, both on electoral terms and as his Lt. Guv., but got slammed in the anti-Republican backlash in '06 and having the misfortune to be a conservative Republican running in a state dominated by liberal Rats.