Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Hotly contested state house and senate races could boost turnout.
The conventional wisdom in politics is the top of the ticket is what drives people to the polls. The campaign of Barack Obama in 2008 is a case in point, when millions of new voters joined the electorate to elect the 44th President. Except 2012 has not been a year where conventional wisdom has held form in South Carolina. Just ask Mitt Romney, who is the first Republican nominee for president since 1976 not to have won the Palmetto State in the primaries. That was just the beginning. The state Supreme Court ruling in the summer that saw hundreds of candidates removed from ballots actually may have served as a catalyst in igniting the attention of voters who might not necessarily have been interested in state politics. Harry Kibler’s …
Monday, October 1, 2012
The long journey to elected office has a few thinking of victory, but virtually all are hoping the effort will result in a change from business as usual.
Regardless of what happens Nov. 6, it seems certain that South Carolina political pundits will look at 2012 as exceptional. From the end of South Carolina's "We Pick Presidents" to the state Supreme Court deciding who should and shouldn't be on ballots to multiple lawsuits between parties and candidates themselves, this election season has been filled with turmoil. Ultimately, hundreds of candidates were tossed from ballots. Many incumbents who appeared to face a tough primary battle cruised to primary victories. But the challengers weren't done. A concerted effort by Operation Lost Vote — a group formed by political activists and led by Spartanburg Tea Party organizer Karen Martin — ultimately gathered 300,000 signatures across the state…
Monday, September 10, 2012
The bill signed by the former governor has led to consequences no one could have foreseen.
When then-Gov. Mark Sanford signed H3066 into law on May 28, 2010, it seemed to be a positive step forward in the state’s quest to be more transparent and less ethically-challenged. But that's not what happened, Sanford recently told Patch. Instead, “the bill basically turned into an incumbency protection program,” he said. “I think it’s a travesty. It was supposed to allow for greater information about candidates to taxpayers.” Current Gov. Nikki Haley has referred to the ballot mess of the last few months as an “embarrassment” on several occasions and expressed gratitude that the story had not received national attention. A blogger for The Nation named it one of the most underreported stories of the summer. H3066 (viewable here) was …
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Choice of Shealy over Knotts is a rare example of party showing preference.
Though they may have a preference, political parties typically do not endorse one member of their own party over another member. But on Saturday, the South Carolina Republican Party Executive Committee took the unusual step of endorsing a petition candidate, Katrina Shealy, over Jake Knotts, a long-time Republican, for Senate seat 23. To be sure, Shealy would have preferred to be on the ballot as a Republican and Knotts has been oft-criticized for being a RINO (Republican in Name Only). But the endorsement had little to do with adherence to Republican doctrine. What caused the SCGOP to act at this stage is not clear--the candidates had been certified and are set to be on the November ballot. But Knotts' ability to make headlines in …
Friday, July 27, 2012
A May S.C. Supreme Court decision to uphold S.C. election law caused hundreds of non-incumbents to be purged from the ballot as voters seek to give incumbents the boot.
The Nov. 6 ballot could prove confusing to some South Carolina voters. Considering that political experts have called this election year "unprecedented" and "unusual" that might not come as a surprise. Even though neither Mitt Romney nor Barack Obama is expected to set foot in the Palmetto State to campaign, the ballot confusion could have significant ramifications for voters. The most heated election battles in South Carolina are in the primary, where gerrymandered districts decide which nominee to send to the general election against little or no competition. But this year, many incumbents dodged the primary challenge when hundreds of non-incumbent candidates were purged from the ballot. Even some non-incumbents who won the primary could…
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Comments came on personal Twitter feed.
UPDATED 4:50 p.m. Thursday Multiple media outlets are reporting that South Carolina GOP Chair Chad Connelly has called for the ouster of Phil Bailey. The Twitter account of Bailey is reported to have been closed and Bailey ackowledged his comments were a mistake at a caucus lunch today with his colleagues. ---------------------- Phil Bailey, the political director of the S.C. Senate Democratic Caucus, came under fire Wednesday night after calling Gov. Nikki Haley as the "Sikh Jesus" on his personal Twitter account. Haley is a practicing Methodist whose parents were born in India. Sikh is one of the dominant religions in India. The comments came in response to what Bailey thought was the governor's involvement at the hearing to determine …
Monday, May 14, 2012
The Lexington senator could now face resurfacing of an alleged 2010 duel challenge.
State Senator Jake Knotts is still feeling the heat after placing a legislative block on a measure that would allow many of the 180 disqualified candidates back on June primary ballots last Tuesday. Now, a South Carolina political blogger is claiming an alleged 2010 duel challenge could come up in the latest protests against the senator — who is a frequent target of conservatives who call him a "Republican in name only." Conservative groups across the state today are launching a grassroots effort called Operation Lost Vote with hopes of getting many Republican challengers to GOP incumbents tossed from the ballot added back. Roxanne Wilson, wife of U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), confronted the Lexington Republican on Tuesday after the …
Thursday, March 22, 2012
The bill that the Lexington senator is sponsoring would make South Carolina the ninth state to offer such special licenses for military veterans.
S.C. Sen. Jake Knotts, R-Lexington, is sponsoring a bill that would enable honorably discharged military veterans to get a special designation affixed on their drivers license, according to this Associated Press report. In addition to the honor of it, the official recognition would also enable vets to prove their status, making it easier for them to take advantage of discounts on goods and services offered to vets, said Knotts, who is a Vietnam-era Navy veteran. "I think veterans need to have some recognition for the job they've done and their service to our country," Knotts told the AP. "And businesses may not know who is a veteran or who isn't. This makes it clear." Democratic Sen. Phil Leventis, of Sumter, is also a veteran and whose …
Shawn Drury
12:45 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
George, Please don't hesitate to contact me at shawn@patch.com with any further events. Thanks. more ›