Scott Jennings

In 2019, Jennings was credited with making television and radio ads for Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the first stand alone African-American candidate to win statewide office in Kentucky. Just 33, Cameron's signature TV ad of the general election was called "Lincoln," recalling the inspiration Cameron derives from the 16th president and Kentucky native. The ad was shot in Kentucky's state capitol in Frankfort.

In 2019, Jennings returned to Harvard's Kennedy School to serve as an Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy, teaching a course on modern American political campaigns.

In 2019, Jennings began writing columns for the LA Times, and was named a contributing columnist in the Fall of 2019. His first column for the paper was called "Attitude and Gratitude: Why Republicans Stick with Trump." Among other political topics, he also wrote a column heralding Tiger Woods' 2019 Master's win.

Jennings is a visible presence on the speaking circuit, briefing groups on the political landscape and taking part in panel discussions.He was a Resident Fellow at Harvard's Institute of Politics in 2018, and became an Adjunct Lecturer in the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in 2019. He is also heard frequently on NPR's Morning Edition as a conservative political analyst.

Jennings was named a resident fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics (housed in the Kennedy School of Government) for the Spring 2018 semester. He taught a series of seminars on tribalism in American politics, and attracted guest lecturers to his class like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and former White House Chief of Staff and RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.

In 2017, Jennings joined CNN as an on-air contributor. He has made hundreds of appearances on the network and is typically on shows like AC360 with Anderson Cooper, The Lead with Jake Tapper, and CNN Tonight with Don Lemon. Jennings has been a regular feature of CNN's impeachment coverage.

It was announced in June 2017 that Jennings had joined CNN as an exclusive political contributor, along with former Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook, former Kasich chief strategist John Weaver, former Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli, Obama national security alum Shawn Turner and Yale Law School associate dean and former FBI special agent Asha Rangappa.

In 2016, Jennings' super PAC, Kentuckians for Strong Leadership, took on a new mission—helping Republicans gain control of the Kentucky state 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. Republicans had not controlled the Kentucky house in nearly 100 years.

In 2016, Jennings was chosen by the organizers of the Fancy Farm political picnic to serve as emcee. The annual political event, dating back to 1880, attracts Kentucky politicians for old-fashioned stump speaking. Jennings appointment as emcee did not come without minor controversy, as Democratic House Speaker Greg Stumbo announced he would not attend the picnic despite a history of alternating between Democrats and Republicans to handle the emcee duties.

Jennings was a member of the 2014 class of Leadership Kentucky, and the 2015 Bingham Fellow's class in Louisville, Kentucky.

Jennings ran a super PAC known as Kentuckians for Strong Leadership during the 2014 U.S. Senate election in Kentucky that supported the re-election of Mitch McConnell. In July 2014, Jennings told WFPL "I think the party is coming together just fine and I don't detect any problems for McConnell on GOP unity."

The Jennings-led super PAC was wildly successful in the 2014 election, leading one observer to call Jennings the "third major player" in the race behind the candidates themselves (Mitch McConnell and Alison Grimes). McConnell handily defeated Grimes, as Kentuckians for Strong Leadership blanketed Kentucky airwaves for months with effective radio and television advertising portraying Grimes as an adherent to the agenda of President Barack Obama.

Jennings is a founding partner of RunSwitch Public Relations, Kentucky's largest public relations and public affairs firm since 2013. He has been writing a regular column for the Louisville Courier-Journal since 2013, and was signed as an on-air contributor by CNN in 2017. He is routinely cited as an adviser to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in news publications, and he was part of McConnell's campaigns for the U.S. Senate in 2002, 2008, and 2014. He joined the LA Times as a columnist in 2019.

Jennings became a contributing columnist to the Louisville Courier-Journal in 2013, and writes a conservative column that appears every other Wednesday in the Gannet paper. Jennings's columns are frequently picked up by Gannett's flagship USA TODAY. In Jennings' columns for the Louisville newspaper, he tackles policy and political issues affecting Kentucky and the nation. In 2018, Jennings won a Society of Professional Journalists award for his Courier-Journal writing. Jennings' writing also appears on RealClearPolitics from time to time.

After leaving the White House, Scott Jennings moved back to Kentucky and was Director of Strategic Development and Senior Strategist for Peritus Public Relations in Louisville, KY, 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, Jennings appeared frequently on the Fox News Channel and other outlets as a commentator discussing polling and the political news of the day.

While serving as an adviser to Mitch McConnell's 2008 reelection campaign, Jennings also served as the General Consultant to Brett Guthrie, the Republican running for Congress in the open seat in Kentucky's second congressional district.

Jennings was mentioned in an inquiry into the politicization of the General Services Administration (GSA). At a Congressional hearing in March 2007, 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." On April 23, 2007 the U.S. Office of Special Counsel announced it was investigating the January video conference, to look at whether the political dealings of the White House have violated the Hatch Act.

Jennings was involved in the dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy in early 2007, and was among the White House Staff for whom House and Senate Judiciary Subcommittees authorized subpoenas in March. He testified on August 2, 2007 before the Judiciary Committee, invoking executive privilege and refusing to answer most questions.

In the months leading up to the dismissal of United States attorneys controversy, Jennings communicated with Justice Department officials "concerning the appointment of Tim Griffin, a former 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." The e-mail account was on gwb43.com, a previously unknown domain, hosted on an RNC mail server. Several White House officials were issued private email accounts so they could be extra cautious.

President Bush appointed Jennings to the position of Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs on October 17, 2005. The White House announced the move in February 2006. Jennings had previously served as Executive Director of the Bush-Cheney campaign in New Mexico in 2004, and as a staff member of the Bush-Cheney campaign in Kentucky in 2000.

Jennings served as political director for President Bush's 2000 Kentucky campaign, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in his 2002 re-election campaign, Gov. Ernie Fletcher in his 2003 campaign, and managed President 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.

After losing New Mexico to Al Gore in 2000 by just 366 votes, President Bush's reelection set its sights on claiming the only state that borders Texas not to go for President Bush in 2000. To that end, the campaign dispatched Jennings to manage its operations. Jennings arrived in early 2004 to find a divided state Republican Party. 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, trying to focus activists on the campaign at hand rather than the factionalism. The two worked together to recruit fifteen-thousand volunteers who operated phone banks, went door to door, and executed a grassroots strategy that relied heavily on peer-to-peer, coalition-based activity. The Democratic establishment spent millions of dollars in the state through the Kerry for President Campaign, the state Democratic Party, and through a host of third-party organizations such as American Coming Together and Moveon.org. The Democrats relied primarily on paid workers; the Bush Campaign and Republican Party utilized mostly volunteer manpower. Bush won the New Mexico election by 5,988 votes, making it one of the closest states in the nation. Along with only Iowa, New Mexico flipped from Democrat to Republican between 2000 and 2004.

Between 2000 and 2003, Jennings directed the political operations for George W. Bush's presidential campaign, Senator Mitch McConnell's reelection campaign, and Ernie Fletcher's gubernatorial campaign. All three were winners. Bush defeated Al Gore in Kentucky, a state Bill Clinton won twice, with 56.5%, McConnell set a record by scoring 65% in his campaign, and Fletcher became the first Republican governor in Kentucky in over 30 years by winning 55% of the vote. Jennings would go on to resume his work in Kentucky in 2008, helping U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, Congressman Brett Guthrie, and state legislative Republicans win numerous races.

Jennings is a native of Dawson Springs, Kentucky and graduated from high school there in 1996. Jennings was a Coca-Cola National Scholar and featured in the Foundation's magazine in 2006. He 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, he was a news anchor and reporter for WHAS Radio. While at WHAS, Jennings won an award from the Associated Press for a several-part series on the plight of the homeless living in downtown Louisville.

Scott Jennings (born October 26, 1977) is an American writer and conservative commentator. He is an on-air contributor for CNN, and writes for CNN.com, USA Today, and the Los Angeles Times.