Trump supporter, attorney Lin Wood wants to be the next SC GOP chairman
Lin Wood, an Atlanta-based attorney who publicly backed former President Donald Trump’s unfounded allegations that widespread voter fraud cost him reelection, confirmed to The State Monday that he plans to challenge Drew McKissick to head South Carolina’s Republican Party.
Wood confirmed the reports, first reported in FitsNews and The Hill, in a text message to The State Monday.
Wood said by phone that he was approached by several S.C. Republican Party members, asking him to consider a bid.
“It was not a Lin Wood I think I’ll run for office type of moment,” Wood said. “I believe that the members of the Republican Party, the grassroots, the people, do not feel that the present leadership of the party represents them. I think in their words, I would say they feel like the party is being led by RINO (Republican only in name) Republicans.”
“These people are patriots, they love freedom and they’re unhappy with the November 2020 election, and they are unhappy that the present leadership of the South Carolina Republican Party was not more aggressive in attacking the legitimacy of the 2020 election,” Wood continued.
Wood already had experience representing high-profile clients, but in November he took one his most notable, Donald Trump, filing a flurry of legal challenges to the outcome of the November presidential election.
“There are a number of Republicans who give lip service to the president, but when it comes time to take action, their lip service seems to be only lip service,” Wood said. “Their actions don’t seem to back up their words.”
Wood most certainly will have a tough time ousting McKissick, who has not only led the state party since 2017, but has overseen efforts to keep Republican control of seats in Congress and inside the State House, where Republicans have dominated both chambers for years. McKissick also was chairman for U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s win over Jaime Harrison and the take-back of the state’s Lowcountry 1st District seat, when then-state Rep. Nancy Mace defeated Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham.
On top of helping to raise millions for the S.C. GOP, McKissick also already has the blessing from Trump to run again.
Trump endorsed McKissick’s reelection bid in February, helping to cement McKissick’s standing within the state party.
The former president remains a favorite of South Carolina Republican voters. Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, who is seeking a second term in 2022, told the Post and Courier’s Pints and Politics last week that Trump is set to return to South Carolina to help Republicans campaign.
In a statement provided to The State, McKissick said he welcomed the challenge, listing successes the party has had while under his leadership.
“In the past four years we’ve brought record numbers of new conservative patriots into our party who want to make a difference, and the result has been the greatest growth and electoral success in the history of the SCGOP,” McKissick said.
That includes, he said, “electing more Republicans across the state in more than 140 years, casting more votes for Trump than any presidential candidate in state history, gaining a supermajority in the General Assembly, electing Republicans in counties where Republicans haven’t had representation since the Civil War, reelecting Sen. Graham by double digits despite more than $130 million of Democrat spending, flipping back the First Congressional District, and beating Democrats by 17 points on straight ticket voting.”
Wood told The State he is not seeking the chairmanship to “represent President Trump.”
“I’m not seeking this position to represent anyone other than the Republican Party, and I do believe my support for President Trump has been unwavering and I’ve been loyal to his policies and positions,” Wood said.
Though based in Georgia, Wood owns property and is registered to vote in Beaufort County, according to his voter filing.
In February, Wood, 68, wrote on social media that he planned to change his legal residency from Georgia to South Carolina. This followed news that the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office was investigating whether Wood was a legal Georgia resident when he cast his ballot in the November presidential election.
The Island Packet reported in February that a limited liability company linked to Wood had bought three multi-million-dollar plantations, amassing more than 2,000 acres in northern Beaufort County.
Wood told The State he started buying property in South Carolina last April, maintaining his residence in Georgia.
But on Feb. 1, he made the decision to change his residence to South Carolina, obtaining a state driver’s license and voter registration card. He has since annexed, he said, two of his properties into the city of Yemassee. His voter registration says that Wood lives in the state’s 6th District, represented by House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn.
Until the party’s May convention, Wood said he will be traveling the state to meet and speak to Republican members.
“In a nutshell,” he said, “I think I’m going to have a busy April.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story was originally published March 29, 2021 at 10:10 AM with the headline "Trump supporter, attorney Lin Wood wants to be the next SC GOP chairman."
