South Carolina Republican Party
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The South Carolina Republican Party is the South Carolina affiliate of the national Republican Party. Its chairman is Katon Dawson.
The South Carolina Republican Party is led by an elected group of state party officers, the South Carolina Republican Party State Executive Committee and paid staff.
As of September 2006, the state party officers are:
- Chairman: Katon Dawson
- National Committeeman: Buddy Witherspoon
- National Committeewoman: Cindy Costa
- First Vice Chairman: Alexia Newman
- Second Vice Chairman: Glenn McCall
- Third Vice Chairman: Mike Ferrer
- Treasurer: Deanna Cochran
- Secretary: Eaddy Roe Willard
- Parliamentarian: Todd Kincannon
As of September 2006, the major state party staff are:
- Executive Director: Hogan Gidley
- Senior Finance Director: Sunny Philips
- Communications Director: Rob Godfrey
- Political Director: David Hill
- Deputy Political Director: Becca Veazey
- Comptroller: Bea Beamer
[edit] History
The party was formally organized on March 7, 1867 in Charleston as the Union Republican party of South Carolina. The party dominated the politics of South Carolina for the duration of Reconstruction from 1868 to 1877. Following the victory of Wade Hampton in the gubernatorial election of 1876, the party drifted into irrelevancy and was nothing more than a patronage institution. In 1964, Senator Strom Thurmond switched from the Democratic party to the Republican party and the state party rapidly gained credibility among the voters. Ten years later, James B. Edwards was elected as the first Republican governor of South Carolina since Reconstruction.
