--- title: Ben Carson Picks Ruth Sherlock As South Carolina State Director description: Ahead of an all-but-certain presidential bid, Ben Carson has chosen Ruth Sherlock as State Director in South Carolina. canonical: https://time.com/3707802/ben-carson-2016-south-carolina/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-12T20:27:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:47:23.979Z article:section: Politics og:title: Ben Carson Picks South Carolina State Director og:description: Ahead of an all-but-certain presidential bid, Ben Carson has chosen Ruth Sherlock as State Director in South Carolina. og:url: https://time.com/3707802/ben-carson-2016-south-carolina/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f8de01a047377b1/69877d59428a9e46a7cc6eea/national-prayer-breakfast-ben-carson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Conservative Activists And Leaders Attend The Iowa Freedom Summit og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ben Carson Picks South Carolina State Director twitter:description: Ahead of an all-but-certain presidential bid, Ben Carson has chosen Ruth Sherlock as State Director in South Carolina. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7f8de01a047377b1/69877d59428a9e46a7cc6eea/national-prayer-breakfast-ben-carson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ben Carson Picks South Carolina State Director > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=72b3d87e-cfb8-4ba2-9042-ad6eea9d55fb&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Feb 12, 2015 8:27 PM UTC  Ben Carson, a possible 2016 presidential candidate, speaks during the Iowa Freedom Summit in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2015\. The talent show that is a presidential campaign began in earnest Saturday as more than 1,200 Republican activists who probably will vote in Iowa's caucuses packed into a historic Des Moines theater to see and hear from a parade of their party's prospective entries. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images Ben Carson, a possible 2016 presidential candidate, speaks during the Iowa Freedom Summit in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2015\. The talent show that is a presidential campaign began in earnest Saturday as more than 1,200 Republican activists who probably will vote in Iowa's caucuses packed into a historic Des Moines theater to see and hear from a parade of their party's prospective entries. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images Daniel Acker—Bloomberg/Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Feb 12, 2015 8:27 PM UTC Ahead of an all-but-certain presidential bid, Republican Ben Carson has chosen a former Newt Gingrich operative as his state director in South Carolina. Ruth Sherlock has committed to the position, according to Carson’s campaign manager Terry Giles. Sherlock served this role before as the Deputy State Director for Gingrich’s successful 2012 campaign in South Carolina, and was later promoted to become the Gingrich campaign’s national deputy political director. Sherlock was also the campaign manager and chief of staff for former Rep. Joseph Cao (R-La.), and has served as the regional finance director for the Republican National Committee. Carson, the former head of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, is expected to make a formal announcement about a run in May. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3707802/ben-carson-2016-south-carolina/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3707802/ben-carson-2016-south-carolina/"},"headline":"Ben Carson Picks South Carolina State Director","datePublished":"2015-02-12T20:27:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:47:23.979Z","description":"She had a successful run in the state in 2012","url":"https://time.com/3707802/ben-carson-2016-south-carolina/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election","Dr. Benjamin S. 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