Jennings is a founding partner of RunSwitch Public Relations,[4] Kentucky's largest public relations firm since 2013.[5] He has been writing a regular column for the Louisville Courier-Journal[6] since 2013, and was signed as an on-air contributor by CNN in 2017.[7] He is routinely cited as an adviser to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell,[2] and was part of McConnell's campaigns for the U.S. Senate in 2002, 2008, and 2014. He joined the Los Angeles Times as a columnist in 2019.
Early life
A native of Dawson Springs, Kentucky, Jennings received his bachelor's degree from the University of Louisville in 2000 where he was a McConnell Scholar. While a student at the University of Louisville, Jennings was a news anchor and reporter for WHAS (AM) Radio. While at WHAS, Jennings won an award from the Associated Press for a series on the plight of the homeless living in downtown Louisville.
Career
Jennings served as political director for President George W. Bush's 2000 Kentucky campaign, and as campaign manager for Sen. Mitch McConnell's 2002 re-election campaign, Governor Ernie Fletcher's 2003 campaign, and Bush's campaign in New Mexico in 2004, before joining the White House. New Mexico was one of only two states to flip from blue to red in between 2000 and 2004; the other was Iowa. He served as associate director in the Office of Political Affairs at the White House before being named special assistant to the president in October 2005.[8]
After leaving the White House, Jennings became Director of Strategic Development and Senior Strategist for Peritus Public Relations in Louisville, Kentucky, before co-founding RunSwitch PR in Louisville in 2012. Jennings is frequently quoted by media outlets as a political analyst. During the 2016 presidential election, he appeared frequently on the Fox News Channel and other outlets as a commentator discussing polling and the political news of the day.
In 2022, Jennings launched the podcast Flyover Country with Scott Jennings, which features commentary on local, state, and national political issues as well as interviews with Mitch McConnell, former Attorney General Daniel Cameron, commentator Erick Erickson, and others.
2004 Bush campaign in New Mexico
After losing New Mexico to Al Gore in 2000 by just 366 votes, President Bush's reelection campaign dispatched Jennings to manage its operations there. Jennings arrived in early 2004 to find a divided state Republican Party.[10] Shortly after his arrival, the state party chairman, State Senator Ramsay Gorham, resigned both her chairmanship and legislative seat and moved out of the state. Jennings and Republican Party counterpart Jay McCleskey set about repairing the damaged party, recruiting 15,000 volunteers[11] to execute a grassroots strategy that relied heavily on peer-to-peer, coalition-based activity. Bush ultimately won the state.
Political operations in Kentucky
Between 2000 and 2003, Jennings directed the political operations for Bush's presidential campaign, Senator Mitch McConnell's reelection campaign, and Ernie Fletcher's gubernatorial campaign. Bush defeated Al Gore in Kentucky, a state Bill Clinton won twice, with 56.5%,[12] McConnell set a record by scoring 65 percent in his campaign,[13] and Fletcher became the first Republican governor in Kentucky in over 30 years by winning 55 percent of the vote.[14] Jennings resumed his work in Kentucky in 2008, helping U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, Congressman Brett Guthrie, and state legislative Republicans win their races.
In 2019, Jennings made television and radio ads for Attorney General Daniel Cameron,[15] the first stand-alone African-American candidate to win statewide office in Kentucky.[16]
GSA Hatch Act inquiry
In 2007, Jennings was mentioned in an inquiry into the politicization of the General Services Administration (GSA). At a Congressional hearing, witnesses testified that on January 26, 2007, Jennings was present at a meeting where GSA Administrator Lurita Doan "joined in a video conference earlier this year with top GSA political appointees, who discussed ways to help Republican candidates."[17] On April 23, 2007, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) announced it was investigating the January video conference, to look at whether the political dealings of the White House had violated the Hatch Act.[18]
While the OSC found that Doan violated the Hatch Act, Elaine Kaplan, Special Counsel during the Clinton Administration, said that "nothing in the OSC's investigative report suggests that anything improper had occurred before Doan initiated the discussion."[19] Jennings' presentation was similar in nature to several others disclosed by the White House. Special Counsel Scott Bloch told the Washington Post, "Political forecasts, just generally . . . I do not regard as illegal political activity."[20] White House Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino described the briefings to reporters: "It's not unlawful and it wasn't unusual for informational briefings to be given. There is no prohibition under the Hatch Act of allowing political appointees to talk to other political appointees about the political landscape in which they are trying to advance the president's agenda."[21]
Jennings was involved in the dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy in early 2007 testifying on August 2, 2007, before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He invoked executive privilege and refused to answer most questions, claiming the president George W. Bush had ordered his non-compliance.[22] Democrats on the committee contested the legitimacy of the privilege assertion, Patrick Leahy calling it, "...a bogus claim."[22] E-mails published subsequently confirmed that Jennings was directly involved in the controversial firing of New Mexico US Attorney David Iglesias, Jennings writing in one e-mail to a White House staffer, "Iglesias has done nothing," and to another, "We are getting killed out there," adding that the White House "move forward with getting rid of the NM USATTY.".[23]
In the months leading up to the controversy around the dismissal of United States attorneys, Jennings communicated with Justice Department officials "concerning the appointment of Tim Griffin, a former Karl Rove aide, as U.S. attorney in Little Rock, according to e-mails released [in March 2007]. For that exchange, Jennings, although working at the White House, used an e-mail account registered to the Republican National Committee (RNC), where Griffin had worked as a political opposition researcher."[17]
Involvement in 2014 U.S. Senate election in Kentucky
Jennings ran a Super PAC known as Kentuckians for Strong Leadership that supported the re-election of Mitch McConnell during the 2014 U.S. Senate election in Kentucky. In July 2014, Jennings told radio station WFPL "I think the party is coming together just fine and I don't detect any problems for McConnell on GOP unity."[24]
Involvement in 2016 Kentucky state legislative races
In 2016, Jennings' Super PAC, Kentuckians for Strong Leadership (KSL), sought to help Republicans gain control of the Kentucky House of Representatives. KSL spent $2 million on 19 legislative races as the GOP went from a 53-47 minority to a 64-36 super majority. "Pure Politics" credited KSL with helping the GOP achieve its objective.[27] The group created a stir in the closing days of the campaign by sending thousands of Hillary Clinton birthday cards to voters across the state, asking them to "ruin Hillary's birthday" by voting against Clinton and "every Clinton Democrat running."[28]
Columnist for Louisville Courier-Journal and Gannett
Jennings became a contributing columnist to the Louisville Courier-Journal in 2013, writing a conservative column that appears every other Wednesday. Jennings' columns are frequently picked up by Gannett's flagship USA Today.[29] In Jennings' columns for the Louisville newspaper, he tackles policy and political issues affecting Kentucky and the nation. In 2018 and 2021,[30] Jennings won a Society of Professional Journalists award for his Courier-Journal writing.[31] Jennings' writing also appears occasionally on RealClearPolitics.[32]
CNN
In June 2017, Jennings joined CNN as a political contributor, along with former Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook, former John Kasich chief strategist John Weaver, former Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli, former Obama national security aide Shawn Turner and Yale Law School associate dean and former FBI special agent Asha Rangappa.
In 2017, it was reported in various news outlets that Jennings had been offered, but turned down, a senior role in the Trump White House.[33]
After Jennings praised model and television personality Amber Rose as "super talented", he characterized her comments endorsing Trump at the 2024 Republican National Convention as "how you change the composition of the electorate."[34]
Harvard Kennedy School
Jennings was named a resident fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School for the Spring 2018 semester. He taught a series of seminars on tribalism in American politics,[35] and attracted such guest lecturers to his class as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell[36] and former White House Chief of Staff and RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.[37] In 2019, he was an Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy, teaching a course on modern American political campaigns.[38]
Los Angeles Times
Jennings was named a Los Angeles Times contributing columnist in the fall of 2019. His initial column for the paper was called "Attitude and Gratitude: Why Republicans Stick with Trump",[39] and was published shortly after Trump had been impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives.
Addison Mitchell McConnell III is an American politician and retired attorney who has been serving as Senate minority leader since 2021 and the senior United States senator from Kentucky since 1985, the longest-serving senator in Kentucky history. McConnell has been the leader of the Senate Republican Conference since 2007, including as majority leader from 2015 to 2021, making him the longest-serving Senate party leader in U.S. history.
Anne Meagher Northup is an American Republican politician and educator from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. From 1997 to 2007, she represented the Louisville-centered 3rd congressional district of Kentucky in the United States House of Representatives, where she served on the powerful House Appropriations Committee. She lost reelection to Democrat John Yarmuth in the 2006 election. She then ran for Governor of Kentucky, losing by 15 points to embattled governor Ernie Fletcher in the Republican primary election for the 2007 Kentucky gubernatorial election. Prior to her election to the United States House of Representatives, Northup had served in the Kentucky House of Representatives. Northup ran again for her old congressional seat in the 2008 election, losing again to Yarmuth.
Gregory D. Stumbo is an American lawyer and former speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Kentucky attorney general from 2004 to 2008. He was the Democratic candidate for the 2019 election for attorney general.
William Bruce Lunsford is an American attorney, businessman, and politician from Kentucky. He has served various roles in the Kentucky Democratic Party, including party treasurer, Deputy Development Secretary, and Head of Commerce. Lunsford was the Democratic nominee for Kentucky's United States Senate seat in 2008, unsuccessfully challenging incumbent Mitch McConnell.
The 2008 congressional elections in Kentucky were held on November 4, 2008, to determine who would represent the state of Kentucky in the United States House of Representatives. Kentucky has six seats in the House, apportioned according to the 2000 United States census. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected were to serve in the 111th Congress from January 4, 2009, until January 3, 2011. The election coincides with the 2008 U.S. presidential election.
The 2003 Kentucky gubernatorial election was held to elect the Governor of Kentucky on November 4, 2003. Republican candidate Ernie Fletcher defeated Democrat Ben Chandler and became the first Republican governor of Kentucky in 32 years.
Gregory Frederick Van Tatenhove, also known as Greg Van Tatenhove, is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. He was a legislative aide of Senator Mitch McConnell, a law clerk for Judge Eugene Edward Siler Jr., United States attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky (2001–05), and on the recommendation of Senators Jim Bunning and Mitch McConnell he was nominated to fill a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Daniel Cameron was a law clerk for Van Tatenhove, who later swore him in as Kentucky Attorney General.
Janet Gardner Mullins Grissom was an American lobbyist who worked in the United States Department of State, was U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell's first Chief of Staff, and in the White House under George H. W. Bush.
Alison Case Lundergan Grimes is an American lawyer and Democratic politician who was the secretary of state of Kentucky from 2012 until 2020. Grimes was elected in 2011 after defeating incumbent Elaine Walker in the Democratic primary and Republican candidate Bill Johnson in the general election. She was the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate in 2014, unsuccessfully challenging Republican incumbent and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. She was re-elected for a second term as Secretary of State of Kentucky on November 3, 2015, defeating Republican Stephen Knipper. Term limited in 2019, she was succeeded by Republican Michael Adams.
The 2014 United States Senate election in Kentucky took place on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the Commonwealth of Kentucky, concurrently with elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
The 2015 Kentucky gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 2015. Incumbent Democratic governor Steve Beshear was ineligible to run for a third term due to term limits. Primary elections were held on May 19, 2015.
Matthew Griswold Bevin is an American businessman and politician who served as the 62nd governor of Kentucky from 2015 to 2019. He is currently the CEO of Neuronetrix Solutions, LLC.
The 2016 presidential campaign of Rand Paul, the junior United States senator from Kentucky, was announced on April 7, 2015, at an event at the Galt House in Louisville, Kentucky. First elected to the U.S. Senate in the 2010 election, Paul's candidacy for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2016 had been widely speculated since early 2013.
The 2020 United States Senate election in Kentucky was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the Commonwealth of Kentucky, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, who had been Senate Majority Leader since 2015 and senator from Kentucky since 1985, won reelection to a seventh term in office. He faced off against former U.S. Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath and Libertarian Brad Barron.
The 2019 Kentucky gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2019, to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of Kentucky. The Democratic nominee, Andy Beshear, defeated Republican Incumbent governor Matt Bevin. It was the closest gubernatorial election by votes since 1899. It was the closest race of the 2019 gubernatorial election cycle.
Amy Melinda McGrath is an American former Marine fighter pilot and former political candidate from Kentucky. McGrath was the first woman to fly a combat mission for the Marine Corps, as well as the first to pilot the F/A-18 on a combat mission. During her 20 years of service in the Marine Corps, McGrath flew 89 combat missions against al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Toward the end of her service, McGrath worked domestically as a political adviser, a liaison officer, and an instructor at the United States Naval Academy.
Matthew Harper Jones is an American attorney, businessman, radio host, author, and investor in Lexington, Kentucky.
Daniel Jay Cameron is an American attorney and politician who served as the 51st attorney general of Kentucky from 2020 to 2024. A member of the Republican Party, Cameron was the first African American and the first Republican since 1943 to be elected to the office. He was also the Republican nominee in the 2023 Kentucky gubernatorial election, losing to Democratic incumbent Andy Beshear.
Michael Gene Adams is an American politician who is a member of the Republican Party. He is the secretary of state of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He succeeded Alison Lundergan Grimes on January 6, 2020.
The 2024 Kentucky Republican presidential primary was held on May 21, 2024, as part of the Republican Party primaries for the 2024 presidential election. 46 delegates to the 2024 Republican National Convention will be allocated on a proportional basis. The contest was held alongside the Oregon primary.
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