The Republican Party of Kentucky (RPK) announced the hiring of Communications and Political Directors on Tuesday as it continues gearing up for this November’s general elections.
Tres Watson will take over as Communications Director while Josh Thomas will serve as Political Director.
“Republicans stand to make historic gains in Kentucky this November and I am committed to assembling the type of team we need to get us there,” said RPK Chairman Mac Brown. “Tres and Josh bring a tremendous amount experience to the party. (They) will play integral roles in helping to re-elect Senator Rand Paul, elect a new majority to the Kentucky State House, retain our majority in the Kentucky State Senate and deliver Kentucky’s electoral votes to the Republican nominee for President.”
Tres Watson, 36, was born in Paducah and graduated from Centre College.
He has more than a decade of campaign experience at every level of Kentucky politics, most recently managing Ryan Quarles’ successful campaign for Commissioner of Agriculture. He also has seven years of experience in public relations and public affairs, managing statewide corporate PR and issue campaigns.
“Tres’ public relations and campaign experience make him uniquely suited to guide our communications operations,” said Brown, who took over as Chairman in November. “His experience and contacts with both the Kentucky press corps and Republican activists across the state will allow him to hit the ground running. He will help make sure our message is carried to all 120 counties so the voters of Kentucky know that if they want open, honest and responsible government, they should vote Republican this fall.”
Josh Thomas is a Tennessee native with substantial experience in guiding Republican State House campaigns.
He previously served as campaign cirector for the Tennessee House Republican Caucus, where he helped flip the State House to Republican control in 2010 and expand it to a supermajority in 2012. In 2014, as political director for the North Carolina House Republican Caucus, he coordinated the effort there to protect a Republican supermajority in the State House.
“I’m excited about the winning experience Josh brings to Kentucky to help guide us to the first Republican majority in the Kentucky House of Representatives in nearly a century,” said Chairman Brown. “Mark my words, 2016 will be the year Kentuckians demote ‘Speaker’ (Greg) Stumbo to ‘Minority Leader’ Stumbo and I’m thrilled to have Josh on board to help lead that effort.”
Saw Tres Watson comment in the Lexington paper this morning. At 37 yrs old Mr Watson obviously has a lot to learn about healthy debate, as does the GOP. Name calling (“coastal liberal elites”) is proof positive the GOP party in Kentucky has no argument or response to Bernie Sanders assertions regarding the shameful 1% tax cut disguised as a healthcare bill. Ha!, In a study released today of 270,000 sampled people on medicare, 97% rate it a 9 or greater of 10 possible points. 7 years of empty protest votes against the ACA and the GOP has nothing to bring to the table to help their own constituents, only to hurt them. If I lived in your State, I would be working toward new representation. Clearly, your GOP reps and senators do not represent you, rather their campaign donors.