Trump’s re-election campaign picks Nikki Haley, McMaster to help lead 2020 team in SC
Nine familiar Republican faces in South Carolina will help President Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election in the Palmetto State.
Tuesday, Trump’s campaign arm and the Republican Finance Committee announced Gov. Henry McMaster and former governor and ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley will help co-lead Trump’s South Carolina team ahead of the November general election.
Also joining the team is Republican U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott and U.S. Reps. Jeff Duncan, Ralph Norman, Tom Rice, William Timmons and Joe Wilson.
Jason Simmons will take over as Trump’s regional political director. Simmons was Trump’s North Carolina state director in 2016 and worked on then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign. And Bill Stern, chairman of the South Carolina Ports Authority and 2016 Trump backer, joins the president’s re-election team as state finance chair.
McMaster shared the news on Twitter Tuesday, noting the role he played in helping to legitimize Trump’s candidacy: “I was proud to be the first statewide elected official in America to endorse @realDonaldTrump for President in 2016, and I’m honored to serve as co-chairman of his 2020 re-election campaign in here South Carolina.”
South Carolina is hardly a battleground state for the president in the upcoming election.
The president faces no competition in South Carolina for his second White House bid.
Despite some Republicans coming forward to challenge Trump, the S.C. Republican Party has decided not to hold a presidential primary in February. The party currently is awaiting a court ruling on a lawsuit against the S.C. GOP that is an effort to force a primary.
Trump won by a landslide in South Carolina against then-Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton — winning 55% of the vote to Clinton’s 41%.
“The people of South Carolina spoke loudly when they delivered President Trump a commanding mandate to lead in 2016,” Republican National Committee chairman Ronna McDaniel and Brad Parscale, Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, said in a joint statement. “After delivering historic economic successes for the men and women of South Carolina, our South Carolina leadership team will pave the way for another strong victory for President Trump in 2020.”
This story was originally published November 26, 2019 at 1:52 PM.
