Sen. Tim Scott’s tenure as chairman of the Senate GOP’s campaign arm is starting with a controversial hire.
According to six sources familiar with the matter, Stephen DeMaura — the former campaign manager for Mike Pence’s most recent presidential campaign — is expected to be the new executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
On top of leading Pence’s 2024 presidential campaign, DeMaura previously served as executive director for the New Hampshire Republican Party, as well as executive director for a super PAC that backed former presidential candidate Carly Fiorina in 2016.
Asked for comment Thursday night, Scott’s team would not confirm DeMaura’s hiring.
“When Senator Scott has staffing decisions to announce, he will,” Nathan Brand, Scott’s spokesperson, said in a statement.
DeMaura did not respond to a request for comment.
But the hire has already ruffled the feathers of many Republicans on Capitol Hill, with some GOP aides telling NOTUS they see it as a “strange” and “weird” decision given Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
The NRSC and Trump will have to work closely together next cycle — and Trump very publicly does not have a good relationship with his former vice president, after Pence declined to overturn the Electoral College and a violent mob took over the Capitol while chanting “hang Mike Pence.”
Republicans worry that GOP incumbents in South Carolina (represented by Sen. Lindsey Graham), Maine (Sen. Susan Collins) and Texas (Sen. John Cornyn) could face potentially difficult primaries. Each of them is viewed as more establishment and less “Trumpy,” putting them at risk in a GOP primary.
The party also expects a primary to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell in Kentucky, who many expect to retire. And Republicans will have to navigate an open primary to take on Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in a seat viewed as one of the GOP’s best pickup opportunities of 2026.
Republicans will defend a 53-seat majority in the midterm elections in 2026, meaning they can lose, at most, a net of three seats while keeping control of the legislative body. The party is expected to face potentially stiff challenges in North Carolina, Maine, Iowa and Ohio, which will have a special election to replace Vice President-elect JD Vance.
Executive directors at the congressional political committees often act like campaign managers on individual campaigns, responsible for hiring other key positions and leading the group’s overall strategy to raise money and recruit potential candidates. They are often seen as second-in-command at the committees, junior only to the chair of the group.
The NRSC executive director will have to work with the White House not only to ensure that GOP incumbents are protected but also to avoid nominating controversial candidates in key races. (In 2022, Herschel Walker easily won the GOP Senate primary in Georgia, only to lose in a runoff to Sen. Raphael Warnock.)
Sources told NOTUS that Pence’s former campaign manager would have difficulty managing all the demands of the job given his résumé.
“I think Matt Gaetz is more confirmable to the Senate than that guy is,” one senior GOP aide said of DeMaura’s hiring.
Trumpworld is also unhappy with the decision.
One source close to Trump emphasized that Republicans just took back control of the Senate because this cycle’s NRSC team “leaned into Trump and MAGA,” whereas this cycle’s group is not starting out on the right foot.
“The new team should take the same approach, not hire anti-Trumpers,” the source close to Trump told NOTUS.
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Reese Gorman and Alex Roarty are reporters at NOTUS.