OBAMA FOR AMERICA
Headquarters: 1025 Calhoun Street, Columbia
 

State Director

Stacey Brayboy

(announced May 24, 2007)  Twelve years of experience in various levels of government.  Deputy director of the Virginia Council on Human Rights, appointed by Gov. Tim Kaine in Feb. 2006.  State core director for Tim Kaine’s successful gubernatorial campaign and for the Virginia Coordinated Campaign in 2005.  In 2004 she ran the South Carolina Votes Project, a statewide grassroots voter turnout program, and earlier was Midlands regional director on Wesley Clark's South Carolina primary campaign.  Worked for U.S. Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings and U.S. Rep. Robin Tallon.  Graduate of Francis Marion University and holds a masters degree from Clark Atlanta University.  From Manning, SC.
 
 

Political Director

Anton Gunn

2006 candidate for state Representative (District 79 - Northeast Richland and Southeast Kershaw Counties), narrowly losing.  Small businessman, runs Top Gunn Ventures, LLC, which does training and consulting and organizational development work.  Executive director of South Carolina Fair Share starting in 2001.  While earning Master's conducted research in the SC House of Representatives and served as a staff researcher at USC's Institute for Families in Society.  Worked for the Center for Community Change in Washington, DC for about a year.  Communications and community relations associate for the Alliance for South Carolina's Children.  Organizer and trainer at South Carolina Fair Share.  Master's of social work from the University of South Carolina, 2001.  B.A. in history from the University of South Carolina, 1994.  Grew up in Hampton Roads, Virginia.
 
 

Deputy Political Director

Michael McCauley

 

Deputy Political Director

Alaina Beverly

 

Political Outreach Coordinator

Jonathan Metcalf

 

Political / Special Projects Coordinator

Tori Scarborough

 

Director of Political Operations

Laurin Manning

USC law school student, studies on hold for the campaign.  Ran the LaurinLine blog from July 2002 to Jan. 2007 and also created the South Carolina '08 site, a community site devoted to presidential politics in the Palmetto State.  Served on the staff of U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings.  Graduate of Wofford College in Spartanburg.
 
 
 

Field Director

Jeremy Bird

(announced May 24, 2007)  Field director for Wake-Up Wal-Mart.  Deputy field director for training and GOTV at the DNC in Fall 2004 (started late July 2004 right before the Convention).  Training director for Democratic GAIN.  One of the two Congressional District directors on Howard Dean's 2003-04 New Hampshire presidential primary.  Bachelor's degree from Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, 2000; Master's degree from Harvard Divinity School.  Grew up in High Ridge, outside of St. Louis, Missouri.
 
 

Deputy Field Director

Monique Perry

 

Deputy Field Director

Nicole Price

 

Border State Director

Alex Lofton

 
 

Youth Vote Director

Elizabeth Wilkins

 
 

GOTV	Craig Schirmer

Los Angeles-based political consultant.  Campaign manager on Erskine Bowles' 2002 race for U.S. Senate in North Carolina (open Helms seat; lost to Elizabeth Dole).  Directed South Carolina Democrats' Coordinated Campaign in 1998.  Graduate of University of Wisconsin-Madison.
 
 
 

Communications Director

Kevin Griffis

(started May 29, 2007)  Most recently served as communications director for Democratic nominee Jim Pederson in Arizona's 2006 U.S. Senate campaign.  Directed communications for Virginia's Democratic coordinated campaign during Tim Kaine's successful gubernatorial run in 2005.   Directed communications for the Democratic Party of Virginia.  Nevada communications director for America Coming Together in 2004.  Political reporter for Atlanta's independent newsweekly, Creative Loafing, 2000-03.  B.A. in political science from Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin.
 

Press Secretary

Amaya J. Smith

(announced Oct. 10, 2007)  Smith came to the campaign from her position as deputy press secretary/regional and specialty media at the DNC.  Before joining the DNC, she worked on Capitol Hill as communications director for Congressman Albert R. Wynn of Maryland.  B.A. in political science from American University's School of Public Affairs.

Press and Research Assistant: Sam Wilson
 
 

New Media Director

Neil Sroka

Graduate of The George Washington University with a degree in political science, 2006.
 
 

Voter File Manager

Kyle Cox

 

Data Analyst

Chris Wyant

 

IT Director

Christopher Workman

 

Director of Scheduling and Special Events

Gwendolyn Williamson-Sellers

 

Director of Operations

Anita Nelam

 

Receptionist

Patricia Healy

 
 

Senior Advisor

Rick Wade

(announced May 24, 2007)  Vice president of business development for Palmetto GBA, a subsidiary of Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina.  Democratic nominee for Secretary of State in 2002, obtaining about 44 percent of the vote.  Senior associate at Fowler Communications.  State director of the S.C. Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Services (announced by Gov. Hodges in Jan. 1999, served through May 2002).  Other experience includes senior manager at Hoffmann-La Roche pharmaceutical company in New Jersey, analyst for the S.C. House Ways & Means Committee, executive assistant to the president of University of South Carolina and chief of staff for former Lt. Gov. Nick Theodore.  MPA from the Kennedy School of Government, 1997.  B.S. from the University of South Carolina.  Native of Lancaster, SC.
 

2007 Endorsements
former South Carolina Democratic Party chair Joe Erwin (announced Dec. 12, 2007)
Served two terms as party chairman from 2003-07.  “In Senator Obama, we see a candidate who does what to me is the most important thing we can do in this election: And that’s to change the course of American politics.  People want a change, and they want a candidate who is not so much about partisanship, but about making government work better for people. For those key reasons I’ve decided to make this endorsement.”
 

State Sen. Glenn Reese of Spartanburg (announced Dec. 7, 2007)
a small business owner and a former teacher, who represents the 11th District in the state Senate.
 

on Dec. 4, 2007 the campaign announced its South Carolina African American Religious Leadership Committee, including "nearly 130 senior pastors from some of the largest and most important churches across the state."
 

on Nov. 12, 2007 the campaign announced several South Carolinians as members of its National Veterans Advisory Committee:
Col. Richard A. Hayes, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), North Charleston, SC
Lt. Col. Arthure W. McMaster, U.S. Army (Ret.), Greenville, SC
Capt. T.R. Rhodes, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), Greenville, SC
Specialist Pete Skidmore, U.S. Army, Fort Mill, SC
 

Former South Carolina State Supreme Court Chief Justice Ernest Finney (announced Nov. 2, 2007)
Elected Chief Justice of the South Carolina State Supreme Court in 1994, becoming the first African American to serve in that position; retired from the court in 2000.  Elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives and was one of the founders of the Legislative Black Caucus. Finney also served as chairman of the South Carolina Commission on Civil Rights.  He is an alumnus of Claflin University and South Carolina State University’s Law School.  Resident of Sumter.
 

Former state Sen. Herbert Fielding
 

The campaign announced the following endorsements on April 30, 2007:
David Agnew - Former Executive Assistant to Charleston Mayor, Charleston

Labrena Aiken-Furtick -Community Activist, Orangeburg

E.W. Cromartie - Columbia city Councilman, Columbia

Thomas Earl Drayton - Georgetown County Councilman, Georgetown

Emile DeFelice - 2006 Candidate for State Commissioner of Agriculture, Columbia

Bud Ferillo - Community Activist, Columbia

Kenneth Glover - Businessman, Orangeburg

Dick Harpootlian - Former Chairman of South Carolina Democratic Party, Columbia

Tameika Isaac-Devine - Columbia City Councilman, Columbia

Joe Jefferson - South Carolina House of Representatives, Pineville

I.S. Leevy Johnson - Former State Representative, Columbia

Kenneth Mosely - Professor at South Carolina State University, Denmark

Phil Noble - Businessman, Charleston

Aaron Polkey - First Vice Chair Charleston County Democratic Party, Charleston

Terrance Roberts - Mayor City of Anderson, Anderson

Todd Rutherford - South Carolina House of Representatives, Columbia

Bakari Sellers - South Carolina House of Representatives, Denmark

Inez Tenenbaum - Former State Superintendent of Education, Lexington

Barry Walker - Irmo Town Councilman, Irmo

Billy D. Williams - City of Florence Councilman, Florence
 
 

Note: Harpootlian was one of the first in South Carolina to endorse Obama, announcing his support on Feb. 19, 2007.
Columbia attorney.  Chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party from Feb. 1998-May 2003.  Ran unsuccessfully for attorney general in 1994.  5th Circuit Solicitor, 1990-94.  Richland County councilman, 1986-90.  J.D. from the University of South Carolina; B.A. from Clemson University.
 
 

Copyright © 2007, 2008  Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action