South Carolina Poised To Pick New National GOP Leader

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by WILL FOLKS

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South Carolina “Republican” leaders will gather soon to choose a replacement for the late Glenn McCall, a veteran GOP leader who spent the past seventeen years as one of the Palmetto State’s three representatives on the Republican National Committee (RNC).

For those of you unhip to the inner workings of America’s political parties, the RNC is the entity responsible for drafting the GOP platform and branding/fundraising for “Republican” candidates.

During his lengthy tenure with the RNC, McCall is credited with helping preserve South Carolina’s coveted “First in the South” position within the GOP presidential nominating process. With the exception of 2012, the Palmetto State has picked the eventual Republican nominee in every single election – and it served a pivotal role in the ascension of Donald Trump to the White House in 2016.

Trump has been a force in Palmetto politics ever since, including his utter evisceration of former S.C. governor Nikki Haley in last year’s presidential primary.

South Carolina’s GOP executive committee will gather in the coming weeks to choose a successor to McCall – someone who will serve alongside party chairman Drew McKissick and veteran national committeewoman Cindy Costa on the RNC. The runaway favorite to win election to the post? Chad Connelly, who led the SCGOP from 2011 to 2013.

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While Connelly is the presumed frontrunner, several MAGA backers are reportedly pushing Richland County party chairman Tyson Grinstead as an alternative to Connelly. Grinstead also reportedly has the backing of the mySCGOP movement, which reportedly has at least a dozen votes on the state-level executive committee.

McKissick favors Connelly, though, and as one veteran GOP politico told us “if Drew wants him to be national committeeman, he will.”

The MAGA frustration with Connelly? According to them, he has been insufficiently loyal to Trump in recent primary elections – and was allegedly working behind the scenes to get Florida governor Ron DeSantis installed as the GOP nominee in 2024.

“Let’s be clear: Chad Connelly was a DeSantis campaign operative in everything but name,” a source closely aligned with Trump’s 2024 campaign told us. “He tried to block the Trump campaign’s faith outreach to pastors in the early states, publicly introduced Ron at rallies, hosted Zoom events for DeSantis, and his son was on DeSantis’s payroll.”

Connelly pushed back aggressively at the notion he has been anything but a loyal MAGA foot soldier.

“If somebody wants to show me somebody who did more to elect President Trump in more states, with more churches, in more denominations – I’d like to meet them,” Connelly said, referencing more than 124 pastor meetings his group held in twenty states in 2024.

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“For somebody to say I worked for another candidate is just a lie,” he added.

Connelly also argued his prior serves as GOP chairman will assist South Carolina in maintaining its seniority on the RNC – which he said is critical to keeping the Palmetto State’s “First in the South” status.

“If people care about ‘First in the South,’ they’re going to pay attention to seniority,” he said. “They’re going to vote for me.”

Connelly noted a new GOP executive committeeman would enter the party’s 168-member hierarchy at the bottom of the barrel.

“I won’t walk in at No. 168,” Connelly said.

While it doesn’t seem as though Connelly’s election is in any doubt, several GOP operatives pushed back at the “inevitability” of his ascension.

“Somebody wants you to think Chad has this wrapped up,” one local official close to the voting told us. “I would put his chances to win at 10% or so.”

Count on FITSNews to keep our audience apprised in the event there are any surprises in this race…

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UPDATE |

The latest on this race… surprising?

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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