CT natives use campaign lessons to boost Trump’s reelection effort
WASHINGTON — At the Republican National Convention in 2016, an uprising of delegates threatened to snatch the presidential nomination from Donald Trump with an unusual procedural tactic.
To put down the insurrection, Trump’s campaign needed a convention expert — ideally a lawyer with years of experience of maneuvering political conventions. The campaign turned to Connecticut — one of just eight states with nominating conventions — and their man there, Justin Clark.
A West Hartford native and veteran of several Connecticut Republican campaigns, Clark helped quell the delegate rebellion and has worked behind the scenes in Trump’s campaigns and administration ever since. He’s now the president’s deputy campaign manager, overseeing everything from budget to strategy to organizing and Election Day operations.
Clark is joined on the Trump campaign team by another Connecticut GOP operative, James O’Connell of Middletown, Trump’s deputy political director. Working for Trump is a reunion of sorts for Clark and O’Connell: O’Connell worked for Clark when Clark was campaign manager for Republican Tom Foley’s unsuccessful gubernatorial in Connecticut in 2010. Both have brought lessons from Connecticut politics to the Trump campaign.
“I would say that both Justin and Jim had a sense in their finger tips of politics and what makes Connecticut tick,” Foley said. “Justin in particular had a
very good way — for example at the Republican convention, he was very good at recruiting delegates to our side and knowing where we stood with delegates, which is not always that easy.”
Clark led Foley’s campaigns in 2010 and 2014 for governor. In between, he was Republican Linda McMahon’s political director for her 2012 senate race won by U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, DConn. He also served as general counsel to Connecticut Republicans from 2011 to 2013.
O’Connell worked on House Republican campaigns in Connecticut and did research for the caucus at the state Capitol from 2006 to 2009. In 2010, he worked on the unsuccessful campaigns of Republicans Rob Simmons and Lisa Wilson-Foley, before joining Tom Foley’s team.
“Connecticut politics for Republicans is not always the easiest thing, but I think it actually helped me be in the seat where I am today,” O’Connell said. “It’s easy to go to other states and win all the time, but you learn a lot of lessons when you’re in a bluer state being on the Republican side. I think it taught a lot of lessons on how to work on campaigns when things aren’t always the easiest.”
Those lessons could be particularly useful now, when Trump is trailing former Vice President Joe Biden in the polls and sidelined from his campaign by a coronavirus diagnosis as an outbreak of the virus sweeps his administration and campaign staff. A campaign spokeswoman declined on behalf of Clark and O’Connell to provide any information about their coronavirus tests or possible exposure.
When Trump does resume campaigning and travel, O’Connell will help decide where the campaign makes stops and which locals Trump and his surrogates speak to on the road.
Clark, who sometimes travels with president, is involved in preparations for what is likely to be an unusual Election Day as millions of people cast ballots by mail during the pandemic.
“The Trump campaign is working to protect the two fundamental cornerstones of an election — one is protecting stability in the rules of how people vote and how those votes are counted, the other is ensuring transparency within that voting system. Our job is to make sure those two cornerstones are intact, so Americans can trust in the results of a free and fair election,” Clark said. “Our team will continue to fight every day in the courtroom and on the ground to make sure that every eligible voter has the right to vote and that their vote is counted — once."
Clark made headlines in 2019 when he was caught on tape telling Republicans in Wisconsin, “Traditionally it’s always been Republicans suppressing votes in places.”
“Let’s start protecting our voters. We know where they are,” he said. “Let’s start playing offense a little bit.”
Clark told the Associated Press he was referring to false accusations that the GOP engages in voter suppression and his remarks were misunderstood.
A graduate of the University of Connecticut School of Law, Clark worked on former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin’s primary recount effort in 2015, a contest that was eventually decided by 83 votes. From there, he leapt onto former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s presidential run in 2016, but when Christie lost the New Hampshire primary, Clark accepted a job working for Trump.
The decision carried him to the White House where he worked as director of intergovernmental affairs, the point of contact between the White House and state, local and tribal governments, and director of public liaison, an office that interfaces with a sprawling list of businesses, sports teams, and other entities requiring the White House’s attention. He assisted with the Supreme Court nominations of Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, working on the Kavanaugh effort with Norwalk native and former White House staffer Raj Shah.
O’Connell also landed in the White House after serving as the Virginia State Director for the Republican National Committee in 2015 and 2016. A job as a special assistant to the president and regional political director was an “easy yes,” O’Connell said. Similar to his role on the campaign, he engaged with local elected officials and business leaders about the effects of the president’s policies.
“We’re very excited about the president’s record and we just have to make sure that every single person that we talk to knows that,” O’Connell said. “[We’re] talking always about the Great American Comeback — he did it once he’s going to do it again.”