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Jeff Roe is an American Republican political consultant and strategist.[2] He is the founder and principal of Axiom Strategies, a political consulting firm located in Kansas City, Missouri, with offices in Washington, D.C. and Dallas, Texas. He formerly served as Chief of Staff, campaign manager, and longtime aide for U.S. RepresentativeSam Graves.[3]

Known for his aggressive campaign techniques, Roe has earned a reputation as a "bare-knuckle" political operative who "plays to win."[4][5][6] His political consulting firm, Axiom Strategies, has won numerous national awards en route to amassing an 81% win ratio.[7][8]

Roe has consulted for a variety of local, state, and federal political campaigns. Notable clients have included Mike Huckabee, Rick Perry and Ted Cruz. Roe is the senior strategist and campaign manager for Cruz's 2016 presidential bid.[9]

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Background

Roe is a native of Brookfield, Missouri. He grew up on his family’s farm and became an Eagle Scout before joining the United States Army at age 17. He served in a 155 mm Howitzer Unit in South Korea. Following his service, he graduated from Northwest Missouri State University. He currently lives with his wife and daughter in Kansas City, Missouri.[3]

Political career

Roe's political career began in 1994, working for then-Missouri State Representative Sam Graves. Following Graves’ election to the Missouri State Senate in 1994 and then the United States Congress in 2000, Roe became Graves’ Chief of Staff. In 2005, Roe left his position with Graves and founded Axiom Strategies, a Republican campaign consulting firm based in Kansas City, Missouri.[10] In addition to Axiom Strategies, Roe founded creative agency and direct mail firm Candidate Command and polling and public opinion research company Remington Research Group.[11][12]

After successfully managing several elections throughout the Midwest, including helping the Republican Party take over Missouri’s General Assembly for the first time in 50 years, Roe expanded Axiom Strategies’ operations to a national level in 2008, opening a second office in Washington, D.C. and working for Governor Mike Huckabee’s presidential campaign in 2008, as well as managing the successful election efforts of several Missouri Congressmen.[13]

In 2008, Congressman Sam Graves’ brother Todd Graves was wrongfully dismissed from his position as a U.S. Attorney. It was discovered that Todd Graves’ firing was retaliation from Senator Kit Bond’s office over Sam Graves’ refusal to fire Roe.[14]

Roe and his consulting firm widened their national footprint in 2010, contributing to the election efforts of Congressmen Allen West,[15] Rick Crawford (AR-1), Kevin Yoder (KS-3), Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-9), Sam Graves (MO-6), Billy Long (MO-7), Chuck Fleischmann (TN-3), Jo Ann Emerson (MO-8) and Senators Roy Blunt (MO), Jerry Moran (KS) and John Boozman (AR). Roe also counted a number of high-profile losing clients the same year, including Wink Harman, Jim Barnett, Bill Stouffer, and Van Tran.

In the 2012 election cycle, Axiom Strategies worked for Rick Perry's presidential campaign and for Richard Mourdock in his upset over Dick Lugar in the Indiana Senate primary.[15] Roe also played a role in Christi Craddick’s successful bid for Texas Railroad Commissioner and David Dewhurst’s unsuccessful United States Senate campaign.

Other clients included the National Association of Realtors, Congressman Richard Hudson (NC-8) and Congresswoman Ann Wagner (MO-2). For his role defeating Proposition B in Missouri, the closest ballot initiative in Missouri since 1992, Roe was named Missouri's “2012 General Consultant All Star.”[16] He was also named one of Missouri’s top 5 GOP “Influencers” by Campaigns & Elections Magazine.[3]

In 2014, Roe was hired by Ted Cruz as a political strategist.[15] According to Politico, Roe was brought on board to build out Cruz's political organization.[17] After Cruz announced his candidacy for president in March 23, 2015, it was reported that Roe was the campaign manager and senior strategist for Cruz.[18]

Roe regularly provides commentary for news outlets and publications such as The Kansas City Star, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Roll Call, The Hill, Fox News, Politico and radio stations such as KMBC andWPHT.[19][20][21]

2014 election cycle

In 2014, Roe was the lead consultant for Martha McSally’s successful bid for Congress, in which she defeated incumbent Ron Barber by 179 votes in the closest congressional election in Arizona history. Roe was also involved in Mark Walker and David Rouzer's elections to open congressional seats in North Carolina and Glenn Grothman’s election to the open congressional seat in Wisconsin. He also consulted for the re-election bids of Kevin Yoder, Ann Wagner, Sam Graves, Blaine Luetkemeyer, Billy Long, Chuck Fleischmann and Jason Smith.[2]

Roe was part of the team in Bruce Rauner’s successful campaign for Governor in Illinois and Greg Abbott’s successful campaign for Governor in Texas. In Texas State Senate races, Roe consulted for Bob Hall, who ousted 12-year incumbent Bob Deuell, and for Don Huffines, who unseated nearly 20-year incumbent John Carona.[22]

References

  1. Jump up Schleifer, Theodore (March 21, 2015). "Ted Cruz to announce presidential bid Monday". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 23 March2015.
  2. ^ ^Jump up to:^a^ ^b^ Mannies, Jo; McDaniel, Chris; Rosenbaum, Jason (June 17, 2014). "Politically Speaking: Jeff Roe Recounts Best Ways To Sell Campaign, Predicts GOP Success This Fall". St. Louis Public Radio. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  3. ^ ^Jump up to:^a^ ^b^ ^c^ "Our Principal". Axiom Strategies. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  4. Jump up Drebes, Dave (February 3, 2008). "Will Missouri's primary splinter GOP's board of directors?". St. Louis Business Journal. Retrieved13 March 2015.
  5. Jump up Kraske, Steve (November 29, 2011). "Jeff Roe evolves into a mainstream player". Kansas City Star. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  6. Jump up "GOP hopefuls off and running in Missouri’s ’08 AG race". Legal Newsline Legal Journal. February 13, 2007. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  7. Jump up "Experience & Results". Axion Strategies. Retrieved 13 March2015.
  8. Jump up Faughn, Scott (April 27, 2013). "Axiom Strategies direct mail earns 20 Pollie Awards". Missouri Times. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  9. Jump up Zezima, Katie (March 23, 2015). "Meet the people who will help Ted Cruz try to get to the White House". Washington Post. Retrieved23 March 2015.
  10. Jump up Faughn, Scott (March 4, 2013). "Jeff Roe chosen to speak at CPAC". Missouri Times. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  11. Jump up Helling, Dave (July 28, 2014). "Streetcar leads in poll, but campaign too close to call". Kansas City Star. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  12. Jump up Ruess, Brittany (August 14, 2013). "Axiom Strategies establishes new direct voter contact firm". Missouri Times. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  13. Jump up Drucker, David (August 28, 2014). "Ted Cruz builds team for 2016". Washington Examiner. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  14. Jump up Kravitz, Derek (October 3, 2008). "How a Missouri Feud Ousted a U.S. Attorney". Washington Post. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  15. ^ ^Jump up to:^a^ ^b^ ^c^ Kapur, Sahil (November 20, 2014). "Ted Cruz's Brain Trust: The Advisers Who Want To Make Him President". Talking Points Memo. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  16. Jump up "MoScout Readers 2012 All-Star Political Consultants". Missouri Scout. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  17. Jump up Everett, Burgess; Bresnahan, John (August 28, 2014). [brought on board to build out the political organization Read more:http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/2016-elections-ted-cruz-110437.html#ixzz3UId60K1S "Ted Cruz feeds 2016 buzz with hires"]. Politico. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  18. Jump up Hohmann, James; Isenstadt, Alex (March 23, 2015). "Cruz's strategy: Destroy the 'mushy middle'". Politico. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  19. Jump up Murray, Shailagh (July 4, 2010). "America's heartland sees little need for a political insurrection". Washington Post. Retrieved 13 March2015.
  20. Jump up Miller, Tricia (January 27, 2011). "Graves Rises to Top of Potential GOP Challengers to McCaskill, Poll Shows". Roll Call. Retrieved13 March 2015.
  21. Jump up Catanese, David (June 24, 2011). "The new GOP litmus test". Politico. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  22. Jump up Repko, Melissa (May 27, 2014). "Update: State legislative candidate Morgan Meyer wins runoff; Chart Westcott concedes in Facebook post". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 23 Ma

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A conservative political treasurer associated with former Rep. George Santos’s(R-N.Y.) campaign was accused of wire fraud by a GOP super PAC in Nevada, according to a Justice Department complaint.

The Conservative Nevada Leadership PAC (CNLP) demanded the Justice Department investigate Thomas Datwyler, who has headed up the financial operations of dozens of Republican candidates and political committees in recent cycles.

Datwyler acted as a “shadow treasurer” for Santos’s brief reelection bid, despite previously disavowing his involvement to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the media.

CNLP, a fundraising group formed to back GOP primary Senate candidate Jim Marchant, accused Datwyler of using its funds to write a $500 check after he stepped down as its treasurer.

“Datwyler has a long history of running roughshod over federal campaign finance law and the regulations of the FEC, where he has repeatedly filed or caused to be filed false reports with the [FEC],” the complaint reads. “Datwyler’s knowing, willful, and intentional conduct, which has drawn repeated FEC fines, has and continues to cause substantial harm to our electoral process. As detailed below, Datwyler’s recent conduct has become even more out-of-control.”

According to the complaint, dated Friday, CNLP raised no money while Datwyler was its treasurer, between June and November of last year. The group received its first donation of $5,000 in December, after Datwyler had stepped down, though the group claims Datwyler wrote a check in February to his political compliance firm from the PAC’s account for $500.

“CNLP at no time authorized this expenditure, or the printing of this check to AxCapital,” the complaint continues. “Only after being caught did Datwyler state that he would issue a refund from AxCapital to CNLP. This activity by Datwyler was plainly illegal.”

Datwyler did not respond to a request for comment.

The Nevada complaint was written by Dan Backer, himself a veteran GOP political attorney and consultant.

“This is the most glaring and recent example of a pattern of misconduct spanning years,” said Backer, who accused Datwyler of having a reputation for skirting campaign finance law. “Multiple campaigns have expressed concerns and frustrations.”

Datwyler has racked up tens of thousands of dollars in FEC fines for campaigns he was involved with, including more than $20,000 in the 2022 cycle alone, according to the agency.

Backer explained that the extraordinary step of a Justice Department complaint was necessary because of the severity of the accusations and the fines already imposed on campaigns he has worked for.

“That’s doors that you’re not knocking, mail you’re not sending … and that’s just the fines,” he said. “This kind of thing is hurting our side of the aisle, and it has to stop.”

Datwyler has previously been affiliated with groups backing Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.) and GOP Ohio Senate primary candidate Josh Mandel, among others.

In April, the Democratic-affiliated abortion rights group EMILY’s List called on the FEC to investigate Datwyler for failing to report ad spending in an Arizona House race.

Datwyler is already under criminal investigation in Mississippi, with state prosecutors alleging he may have broken state campaign finance law while backing a Republican lieutenant governor primary campaign in the state with his own super PAC.

His firm, Ax Capital Compliance, is owned by Republican political operation Axiom Strategies, the largest GOP group of its kind in the country. Axiom has consulted for numerous GOP campaigns, including those of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, and the presidential campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Axiom General Counsel Eric Brown defended Datwyler in a statement to The Hill, denouncing the allegations as “baseless attacks.”

“AxCapital is the premier political compliance firm and it’s no surprise it faces baseless attacks,” he said. “AxCapital seeks to uphold the highest level of commitment to its clients, and this letter doesn’t change that and is nothing more than a stunt.”

*Updated Aug. 4.

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