Trump-Endorsed South Carolina GOP Chair Drew McKissick Wins Reelection

Trump-endorsed South Carolina GOP Chair Drew McKissick won reelection, defeating lawyer Lin Wood for the GOP state chairmanship Saturday after the party had conducted the largest reorganization in the state’s history.

McKissick will remain SCGOP chair for another term after winning reelection at the 2021 state convention. Recently, the state party underwent its largest reorganization, with this one notably being the largest.

After McKissick’s victory, he said in a statement, “Thanks to the grassroots activists across the state, the SCGOP is stronger than it’s ever been.”

He later added, “We’ve proven we have a winning coalition of conservatives who are committed to beating Democrats, and I’m honored they’ve chosen to reelect me to lead that fight. Now we can roll up our sleeves to continue what we do best–win elections.”

The official delegate totals for the GOP chair, according to Politico, were: McKissick 582 votes (68 percent), Wood 239 votes (28 percent), Michael LaPierre 27 votes (three percent), and Mark Powell 10 votes (one percent).

The party has also elected Cindy Risher as First Vice Chairman, Kizzie Smalls as Second Vice Chairman, and Leighton Gray Smith as the Third Vice Chairman. This will be “the first time all three Vice Chairman positions will be held by women,” according to their press release.

According to state law and Party rules, the state party has to reorganize every two years. Between 2019 and 2021, the release noted that the participation for the officially organized county parties in all 46 counties in South Carolina has since doubled.

Since 2017, under the chairmanship of McKissick, the state party has grown exponentially. The press release stated:

All counties had tremendous growth, but Hampton County had the largest percent increase with 1350% growth. Oconee County increased by 433% and Lee County increased by 350%.

…

During his last term alone, the SCGOP increased membership to its grassroots donor support system by 300%, identified more than 6,000 volunteers, and directed the Victory 2020 program that elected the most Republicans across the state since the Civil War and beat Democrats by 17 points.

In addition to McKissick remaining as chairman, he also serves on the Election Integrity Committee for the Republican National Committee (RNC)  and was endorsed by former President Donald Trump three times.