Rod Shealy Sr. (December 22, 1953 – August 18, 2010) was a Republican political consultant and publisher from Lexington County, South Carolina. He worked on numerous campaigns as a political strategist, including those of André Bauer, Jim DeMint, Jake Knotts, Lindsey Graham, and George W. Bush. Shealy worked with Lee Atwater in the early 1970s and gained notoriety for negative campaigning. Shealy owned a small chain of South Carolina newspapers including The Beaufort County News, The Lake Murray News, The Cayce-West Columbia News, The Northeast News, North Charleston News, Goose Creek, The Hanahan, and The New Irmo News. He also owned Gatsbees World Fair, an old fashioned soda shop. Early life Rod Shealy was born on December 22, 1953 to Elsie (née Porth), who worked as an executive for World Book Encyclopedia, and Ryan Shealy, a South Carolina politician who served in the state's House and Senate. He was the second of five children. Shealy attended Lexington High School and graduated in 1972. One of his sisters, Sherry Shealy Martschink, (1949 –) served in both the SC House and Senate and ran for lieutenant governor. Career In 1988, Shealy worked as an organizer for Taxpayers for the Lottery. The group worked to bring the lottery to South Carolina, a cause championed by Shealy's father. Shealy ran campaigns for a plethora of politicians over the years and had an impressive track record in bringing dark horse candidates to victory. Benjamin Hunt Jr. While running a campaign to elect his sister Sherry Martschink to Lieutenant Governor in 1990, Shealy, with the help of Robert Kohn, recruited unemployed black fisherman Benjamin Hunt Jr. to run for Congress against Republican Arthur Ravenel Jr. Shealy sought to increase the turnout of white voters by playing to the racial fears of the South Carolina electorate. He promised Hunt, who had a prior drug arrest, $900 to run for Congress and paid for his $2414 filing fee. Shealy paid for the fees with an unreported $5000 campaign contribution to his sister from Laidlaw Environmental Services. Hunt's campaign was investigated by the solicitor's office, the FBI and the State Law Enforcement Division. Once the masquerade was uncovered, the story gained widespread media attention. At Shealy's trial, former state Representative Robert Kohn testified that he was asked by Shealy to find a black man to run against Ravenel. Shealy was convicted for violating campaign laws and fined $500. Hunt