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.
Steele has just become chairman of GOPAC. He will do marvelously in that capacity, and it will be a great learning experience for a future run.