SC governor gets new gig that could boost his re-election campaign
S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster had a productive couple of days at the Republican Governors Association’s conference in Boca Raton, Florida, this week.
The Columbia Republican was named to the RGA’s executive committee for 2020, a gig that positions him to rub shoulders with major national donors and party activists who can help fund his re-election campaign in 2022.
“It sends a strong signal that the RGA’s team is going to do whatever it takes to defend him should anybody decide they want to challenge him for re-election,” said Rob Godfrey, a Columbia-based communications strategist who has worked as a McMaster spokesman in the past.
The RGA raises and spends money to try to elect Republican governors across the country. It paid some $200,000 for ads backing McMaster’s predecessor, former Gov. Nikki Haley, in her 2014 re-election bid.
McMaster is the third straight S.C. governor to make the committee.
Former governors Haley and Mark Sanford both landed spots on the RGA’s executive committee.
Sanford was elected chairman but resigned the position after admitting his extramarital affair in 2009.
Haley was elected vice chairwoman and was in line to become chair before she accepted a job as President Donald Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations.
McMaster defeated S.C. Democrat James Smith by 8 percentage points last year to win his first full term. He had more difficulty in the GOP primary, where he was forced into a runoff by political newcomer John Warren before a campaign stop by President Donald Trump on the eve of the election helped him secure the nomination.
The other GOP governors on the executive committee are new chairman Greg Abbott of Texas, vice chairman Doug Ducey of Arizona, Kim Reynolds of Iowa, Larry Hogan of Maryland, Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, Kristi Noem of South Dakota, Bill Lee of Tennessee and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska.
This story was originally published November 22, 2019 at 10:25 AM.
