State GOP’s new chairman optimistic about party-building

State GOP’s new chairman optimistic about party-building, paying back debt
Published: June 11, 2013

By JAMIE SELF – jself@thestate.com

COLUMBIA — Matt Moore, the S.C. Republican Party’s new chairman, is starting the job eager to make the state party a model for national Republican politics and optimistic about paying back $300,000 in legal debt.

In a meeting with media Tuesday, Moore said his contribution is “bringing in fresh ideas,” and as an engineer by training, he hopes to use technology to attract as many people as possible to the party.

“We have a big-tent party, and I’m committed to it being a big tent.”

Moore says the party’s debt should be paid back by the end of 2013 or early 2014. The lawsuits resulted from more than 200 candidates being removed from the ballot last year because of paperwork errors.

Moore, 31, was elected chairman by the state GOP’s executive committee after Chad Connelly, who was elected by party convention last month to another two-year term, resigned Saturday to take a job with the Republican National Committee.

Connelly’s promotion will help Republicans elsewhere “use the South Carolina model to win nationally,” Moore said.

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