Married in 1994, he and his wife Julie reside in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and have two children.
Career
In a 2006 interview, Howell discussed his early career in some detail. Recruited by Lee Atwater to work for the RNC after his 1988 work for presidential candidateBob Dole, Howell spent four years as a campaign operative before moving to Texas in 1992 to work for Karl Rove, then running a direct-mail firm. In 1993, Howell started his own political consulting firm, which has since grown into Scott Howell and Company. In 2004 he was part of the Bush/Cheney'04 strategy team producing ads for President Bush's successful reelection. He has developed media strategies for numerous successful United States Senate campaigns for Republicans such as:
Jerry Moran of Kansas who defeated fellow Congressman Todd Tiahrt in a hotly contested primary in 2010
Kristi Noem the first female governor of South Dakota in 2018
Howell has also been involved in more than a hundred congressional, legislative, judicial and issue campaigns. Note worthy corporate clients have included American Airlines, Texas Rangers Baseball Club and the Dallas Cowboys. Failed clients have included:
In 2002, Howell's client Saxby Chambliss defeated incumbent Senator Max Cleland. Supporters of Cleland blamed a Chambliss TV ad featuring the likenesses of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, while criticizing Cleland's votes against homeland security measures. The ad, which Cleland supporters claimed questioned the senator's patriotism, was removed after protests from prominent politicians including Republicans like John McCain and Chuck Hagel. Chambliss supporters claimed the ad didn't question Cleland's patriotism, but rather his judgment. Although these ads are frequently mentioned as examples of work by Scott Howell, Howell has repeatedly denied that he produced this particular ad.
In October 2006, Howell was revealed as the producer, with Terry Nelson, of the "Harold, Call Me" attack ad used against democratic Tennessee Senatorial candidate Rep. Harold Ford Jr. in which a white woman said that she had met Ford at a Playboy party. The ad concludes with the woman speaking to the camera and saying to Ford "Call me." Coverage of the controversy characterized Howell as a "protégé" of Karl Rove.
