PAC Profile: Chandler Rebel

During the 2022 midterm election cycle, Public Affairs Communications students and alumni worked on campaigns and within the administrations of Georgia public officials on both sides of the political aisle. The PAC program equipped this group of students and alumni with practical knowledge and communications skills that prepared them for these fast-paced and important roles. This post is part of a series of pieces profiling a few of these hard-working members of the PAC program.

Chandler Rebel:

• Fourth-year student double majoring in journalism and political science
• Communications Assistant and Intern Coordinator, Press Aide, and Director of Advance for Herschel Walker’s campaign for US Senate (fall 2021- fall 2022)
• Staff Assistant in the Office of Representative Mike Collins (present)

In the summer of 2020, Rebel interned for Doug Collins’ (fmr. GA-9) campaign for US Senate, and that experience motivated him to enter the PAC program and add political science as a major. Rebel said he found his passion or “calling” when he took his first PAC class with Professor Watson. He also credits the PAC program for setting him up with an internship with a lobbying firm in Washington DC for the Grady DC Field Study and Internship program in the summer of 2021.

While working for Walker, Rebel said, “I have definitely used my PAC experience when I’m campaigning because it’s really helped me with tone and messaging.” Rebel started as a part-time Communications Intern on the Walker campaign before he was promoted to serve as a Press Aide and the Director of Advance.

As a Press Aide, Rebel said the PAC program made him “incredibly effective” at writing press releases and taught him how to work with the media. Rebel also said the PAC program helped him make sure every part of an event runs according to plan in his role as the Director of Advance. Some of his tasks included managing the press, staging the event, communicating with the venue spaces, and curating graphics and other outreach techniques to help build a crowd.

“On the campaign, the connections you make, they’re going to go a really long way, and it’s truly a lot of fun getting really close with different members of the staff,” said Rebel. He is excited that some of the friends he made through Walker’s campaign and the PAC program also have plans to eventually move to DC. “Knowing that I’ll kind of be set up with a friend group there really kind of puts me at peace,” said Rebel.

Rebel now works as a Staff Assistant for Rep. Mike Collins (GA-10) in DC. Rebel said, “I’ve got a lot of learning left to do— even though I graduated this fall, that doesn’t mean I’m done being a student.”

Rebel’s advice for PAC students is to “stay close with your cohort and get as involved as humanly possible.”

Writer: Jenna Monnin, Tieger Fellow, Jenna.Monnin@uga.edu