Beth Myers

Beth Myers (born 1957) is an American political consultant, campaign advisor, and attorney who has held senior positions in the political campaigns and the Massachusetts governorship of Mitt Romney, the nominee of the Republican Party for President of the United States in the 2012 election.

Myers was born in North Carolina, but spent her childhood in Ohio and upstate New York.^[1][2] After graduating from Tufts University with a degree in English in 1979, she joined Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign, becoming an early protege of Republican campaign political strategist Karl Rove.^[2] Her task in the campaign was overseeing voter identification programs in rural counties throughout Texas.^[2] During the 1980s she worked for the state election campaigns of Ray Shamie in Massachusetts, serving as Shamie's deputy campaign manager, and of Governor Bill Clements in Texas. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from Southern Methodist University School of Law in 1991. After law school, she worked as a litigation associate at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer, & Feld LLP.^[3] Myers settled with her husband in Massachusetts, where she served as chief of staff to former state treasurer Joe Malone.^[2] In 1998, she retired from politics to stay at home and raise her two young children.^[2]

Myers returned to politics during Mitt Romney's 2002 campaign for the governorship of Massachusetts, in which she would play the role of the Democratic opponent during debate rehearsals.^[2] After helping Romney win the governor's race, Myers served as Romney's chief of staff during his four years in office (2003–2007).^[4]

On Romney's leaving the governor's office in 2006, Myers co-founded a consulting firm, The Shawmut Group, along with two other senior Romney advisors, Eric Fehrnstrom and Peter Flaherty.^[2][4] One of their most prominent clients has been Scott Brown, a then little-known Republican state senator whom they helped win the 2010 special election to fill the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by Democrat Ted Kennedy.^[2] Myers has also advised Republican Rick Lazio in his unsuccessful 2010 campaign against Andrew Cuomo for the governorship of New York.^[3] Mitt Romney's Free and Strong America PAC is another client of The Shawmut Group.

Myers worked closely with Romney again in 2007–08, serving as campaign manager in his bid for the presidency.^[1]

In April 2012, Romney announced that he had chosen Myers to lead his presidential campaign’s search to help him select a vice presidential candidate.^[5][6]

Romney aides have described Myers as Romney's most trusted advisor.^[7][8]

In 2013, Myers was a signatory to an amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage during the Hollingsworth v. Perry case.^[9]

In the 2014 midterm election, Myers' son, Curt Myers, ran for Massachusetts State Representative in Brookline. He challenged Rep. Frank Smizik (D) and lost 80% to 20%.

• The Shawmut Group