Trace Scruggs
VICE PRESIDENT
Trace Scruggs is a vice president at The Herald Group, where he provides strategic counsel and leads the development of integrated public affairs, issue advocacy, and communications campaigns for a broad range of clients.
Prior to joining The Herald Group, Trace served as a senior director at PLUS Communications, where he worked with Fortune 100 companies, industry trade associations, chambers of commerce, and national and state coalitions on message development, media relations, stakeholder engagement, and grassroots mobilization to advance their policy and public perception objectives. He also worked at the Edison Electric Institute, where he supported the development and implementation of strategic communications initiatives for the nation’s investor-owned electric companies.
He and his wife, Katie, reside in Falls Church, Virginia.
Education:
University of Arkansas
Hometown:
Little Rock, AR
Reddit and other online forums can reveal where an issue is taking shape, which narratives are spreading, and when an informal conversation is becoming a public affairs threat.
Recognition reflects the firm’s commitment to employee growth, mentorship and a collaborative culture.
Unconventional public affairs advocacy tactics can make an issue impossible to ignore by using targeted activations to reach decision-makers, create earned media opportunities, and strengthen every element of a broader public affairs campaign.
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Audience research can do more than inform one campaign. Synthetic audiences help public affairs teams pressure-test messaging, extend research value and adapt faster as issues, audiences and news cycles shift.
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The Herald Group earns seven Hermes Creative Awards—four Gold, three Honorable Mentions—for work spanning blog content, website design, paid media, outdoor advertising, and LinkedIn performance.
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The public affairs landscape in 2026 looks nothing like it did two cycles ago. Here's what practitioners need to understand—from the midterm environment to state-level fights to media fragmentation.
The Herald Group earned Gold and Silver at the 2026 MUSE Creative Awards for work on the Alliance for IRS Accountability—a reflection of how integrated strategy and creative drive results in public affairs.