S.C. strategist tapped to lead Rubio super PAC

Sen. Marco Rubio at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. (H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY)

A veteran South Carolina political strategist reportedly will help lead a super PAC to boost the Florida senator’s likely presidential bid.

J. Warren Tompkins is expected to oversee the yet-unnamed super PAC, according to a New York Timesreport

Tompkins was a consultant to Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign and the chief strategist behind George W. Bush’s victory in the South Carolina GOP primary in 2000. He’s also done political work for Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint in their South Carolina Senate races.

Tompkins told the Times

Super PACs can collect unlimited amounts of money to help candidates and were used extensively in the 2012 presidential race to assist Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich during the GOP primaries. In the 2016 money chase

Federal law prohibits super PACs from coordinating their activities with the candidates they back, so they must operate independently.