Tim Scott picks longtime ‘tacticians’ to run SC presidential operation. Who are they?

Sen. Tim Scott’s presidential campaign is tapping two longtime South Carolina political consultants to run his 2024 operations in the Palmetto State.

Political consultants Luke Byars and his wife, Drea, and Phillip Habib will run the senator’s South Carolina campaign leadership team.

“Winning campaigns today need a powerful message, a strong messenger and plenty of momentum,” the three said in a joint statement. “Thankfully, Tim Scott has all three. This is personal for us. We believe in Tim, and no one will work harder than us to make sure he’s our next president.”

Luke Byars, a senior partner at strategy firm First Tuesday Strategies who served as a former South Carolina Republican Party executive director, will be the Scott campaign’s senior adviser and general consultant.

His resume includes work for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign, the Bob Dole-Jack Kemp campaign in 1996 and for former U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, who Scott succeeded in the U.S. Senate.

Drea Byars will be senior national finance adviser, a role broader than South Carolina. She previously served as finance director for Scott’s Senate campaign, and other campaigns, including education Superintendent Ellen Weaver’s, the S.C. Senate Republican Caucus and Congressmen William Timmons and Russell Fry.

Meanwhile, Habib — First Tuesday’s vice president of campaigns, who most recently was campaign manager for Weaver, Fry and, most recently, he ran state Sen. Mike Reichenbach’s campaign — will be Scott’s state director.

“Luke and Drea are not only two of the best conservative tacticians the Palmetto State has to offer, they’re also two great friends to both me and Sen. Scott,” said Jennifer DeCasper, Scott’s campaign manager. “Phillip is a smart, young operative and someone who won’t be outworked. Their collective leadership will help us earn South Carolina.”

Also joining the presidential campaign is Sarah Jane Walker, who most recently worked for the state party. Walker will work as the South Carolina operations director for Scott’s White House bid.

Luke Byars and Habib aren’t the only First Tuesday Strategies consultants supporting Scott’s presidential campaign.

Matt Moore, a former state GOP chairman and First Tuesday’s managing partner, last month was tapped to be the state chairman on a political action committee backing Scott’s candidacy, the Opportunity Matters Fund Action.

Scott formally kicked off his 2024 White House bid Monday.

Within a day of announcing, Scott raised $2 million, according to his campaign.

Official fundraising records for the second quarter of the year aren’t due to the Federal Elections Commission until July.

The money will help pay for a nearly $6 million ad buy in Iowa and New Hampshire, an effort to build Scott’s name ID in the early voting states. Scott brought nearly $22 million saved from his 2022 Senate reelection campaign into his presidential bid.

In polls, Scott, who formed his exploratory committee in April, has continued to rank well under challengers former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and another South Carolinian, former Gov. Nikki Haley. But the launch of his 2024 bid has bumped his polling up, at least in South Carolina.

Among South Carolina Republican primary voters, Scott’s support increased from 7% in April to 10% in May, according to a National Public Affairs poll released Tuesday.

The poll of 590 voters was conducted from May 15-17, in the week before Scott’s official campaign launch.

A new national Quinnipiac University Poll of Republican primary voters released Wednesday had Scott at 2%.

A Quinnipiac poll released in March had Scott at 1%.