Yesterday, the SCGOP announced that Steve Michael and Leighton Gray Smith will be joining our Victory 2020 Team. Republicans across South Carolina are energized and excited for 2020. We are excited to continue building a grassroots army that is focused on re-electing President Trump, Senator Graham, and defeating Joe Cunningham. Read more below from the Post and Courier.

In Case You Missed It…

SC Republicans staffing up to defeat Democrat Joe Cunningham in 2020
Post and Courier
October 6, 2019
Caitlyn Byrd
https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/sc-republicans-staffing-up-to-defeat-democrat-joe-cunningham-in/article_c79ec828-003f-11ea-b6ec-ff019de8d1ef.html

With an acute focus on defeating Democrat Joe Cunningham next year, South Carolina Republicans are staffing up and building robust 2020 field operations a year before the general election.

On Wednesday, they solidified the first phase of this plan when state party officials announced they had hired two people to lead their “Victory 2020” operation.

The initiative, which was first announced in July by S.C. GOP Party Chairman Drew McKissick, includes two additional top-of-the-ticket priorities: Defending South Carolina’s senior U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and re-electing President Donald Trump.

The goal is to build “a grassroots army” that can energize supporters to encourage voters to back GOP candidates up and down the ballot in South Carolina next year, he said.

To help win back the congressional seat Republicans lost in 2018, the state party plans to open an office in the coastal district at the beginning of next year, S.C. Republican Party spokesman Joe Jackson said. The first phase, he said, will be on building relationships and recruiting.

Steve Michael will lead the charge as chief victory strategist statewide, while Leighton Gray will act as 1st District victory director.

They will have help.

The S.C. GOP confirmed their effort will be carried out in conjunction with both the Trump and Graham campaigns, even though both incumbents have primary foes. Additional staff members will join the Victory 2020 team next year.

The early infusion of GOP resources signals two things: that South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District race will be the state party’s top priority in 2020, and Republicans are taking steps now to solidify GOP victories in 2020 despite being a solidly conservative state.

McKissick said he isn’t willing to take any chances.

“The road to the majority runs through this district,” McKissick told The Post and Courier last month as he stood outside Cunningham’s Lowcountry office for a GOP-led protest and press conference.

Republicans suffered a bruising loss last year in the 2018 midterms when Cunningham defeated Trump-backed Republican Katie Arrington, beating her by a narrow 3,982 votes to become the first Democrat to represent the coastal seat in decades.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has labeled the upcoming 2020 House race as a “Democratic toss-up.”

Both Michael and Gray bring a blend of political experience to the Republicans’ organizing effort, which they hope will outperform Democrats by starting a year early.

Michael has served as political director for both the Missouri Republican Party and U.S. Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla. He also is a partner and chief political officer of Victory Enterprises, a Davenport, Iowa-based political firm that works on state and federal campaigns nationwide.

Michael also has advised the South Carolina campaigns of Attorney General Alan Wilson and Congressman William Timmons of Greenville.

Gray has roots in the state’s coastal 1st Congressional District, which includes parts of Charleston, Berkeley, Dorchester, Colleton and Beaufort counties.

The Hilton Head Island native worked in 2018 as the campaign manager for state Rep. Peter McCoy, R-Charleston. She also was a paid political consultant for the Beaufort County GOP.

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