Zack Roday, who has been the press secretary and spokesman for House Speaker Paul Ryan’s political operation, will become the Republican Attorneys General Association's first-ever communications director. The group is looking to protect and even grow the GOP’s foothold in the offices, which play a key consumer protection role and have the ability to derail presidential policy in court — and have often been stepping stones for future senators and governors.
There will be 31 state attorney general elections around the country over the next year. Republicans currently hold a majority of the prosecutor roles, and RAGA will take an even bigger role in the next year's campaigns by attacking sitting Democratic attorneys general for the first time, after years of informal agreement between the parties to work only in open-seat races.
The first clash comes next month in Virginia, where Democratic Attorney General Mark Herring is running for a second term. RAGA has transferred $1.15 million to the campaign of Herring’s Republican opponent, John Adams, accounting for nearly half of Adams’ reported fundraising.
Roday will help Republican attorney general candidates set strategy and campaign messages in the 2017 and 2018 elections, when the Democratic Attorneys General Association is also expected to go after GOP incumbents for the first time.
