Thursday, April 26, 2012
State GOP chairman says Palmetto State's "first in the South" primary shouldn't be in jeopardy despite backing the wrong 2012 candidate.
Newt Gingrich appears set to bow out of the race for the Republican nomination for president, and the end of his campaign will also usher in the end of an era in South Carolina politics. For the last 30 years, the winner of the South Carolina Republican primary has gone on to win the GOP nomination. The state's predictive powers led Gingrich to rest the hopes of his faltering campaign on the South Carolina contest, projecting a victory in the race if he could reel in the Palmetto State. Gingrich went on to overwhelm Mitt Romney and the rest of the field in January, only to win only one more primary contest (his native Georgia) amid dozens over the next three months. Ultimately, it was Rick Santorum's conservative bona fides that served …
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
War of words between Charleston Place and SRLC.
Charleston Place is suing the Southern Republican Leadership Conference over an unpaid bill. The popular Lowcountry tourist destination is seeking $227,872.12 in damages following the SRLC's sparsely-attended January conference in the days leading up to the South Carolina GOP Presidential Primary. First reported by Charleston City Paper contributor Dan McCue, the complaint filed in the Charleston County Court of Common Pleas claims SRLC "was grossly undercapitalized, failed to observe corporate formalities, was insolvent, and was mere[ly] used as a façade for the operations of the defendant [organizer Robert] Cahaly." Poor attendance led GOP Primary candidate Newt Gingrich to cancel his apperance. The Columbia Free Times' Corey Hutchins …
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
With a waiting game over on Berkeley County votes, statewide loser wins 1st Congressional District.
Final results aren't certified yet, but an analysis of the totals for Saturday's GOP Presidential Preference Primary suggests that Mitt Romney isn't leaving South Carolina empty-handed after all. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich won a solid victory in the Palmetto State's primary, handing Romney a defeat in a state he was expected to win just days earlier. South Carolina's 25 delegates will be divvied up this way: Two delegates will be handed out based on the winner in each of the state's seven congressional districts and 11 delegates going to the statewide winner. Blog site Daily Kos was waiting on stragling Berkeley County votes before reporting its findings, but learned Wednesday that the results for a couple different precincts were …
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Romney, Perry ad buys don't result in votes
Republican presidential candidates spent the most money ever on advertising during the South Carolina primary, but it didn't necessarily result in success at the polls. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry spent the most on ads in South Carolina and got little return on their investment, according to The State. Romney and his Super PAC spent $4.7 million for a disappointing second-place finish and Perry spent $2.5 million before dropping out of the race prior to primary day. In contrast, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich spent $2.4 million in South Carolina and still ran away with the primary, earning 40 percent of the vote. Rep. Ron Paul and Sen. Rick Santorum each spent about $1.7 million in South Carolina and…
Monday, January 23, 2012
Gov. Haley's ironic song choice
A message sent from Gov. Nikki Haley's Twitter account Monday afternoon raised eyebrows just days after the South Carolina Primary. Haley tweeted: "One of my all time favorite songs is "Landslide" by Stevie Nicks." Ironically, the candidate Haley endorsed for Saturday's primary, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, lost in a landslide to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Many said the loss showed Haley's lack of favor in her own state. After Patch called the governor's office to see if Haley's account had been hacked, spokesman Rob Godfrey confirmed on Twitter that it had not been. "Gov. @NikkiHaley was not hacked. Anyone who knows her knows she loves music. When she hears a good song, she Facebooks it sometimes," Godfrey said on …
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Ever wondered what happens to your vote once you've confirmed your electronic ballot?
Patch was granted access to the Greenville County Department of Registration and Elections on Saturday night after the Republican primary to show what happens after you, the voter, make your decision. In this Patch video, Greenville County Elections Director Conway Belangia walks you through what happens to your "personal electronic ballot" (PEB), and just what goes into tabulating the totals. South Carolina uses an electronic voting system, unlike Iowa, where its caucuses were decided by hand-written votes. That system resulted earlier this month in mass confusion, as Mitt Romney was initially declared the winner, but was later found to have finished second to Rick Santorum just this past week.
Stephen Colbert asked South Carolinians to vote Herman Cain, which was a vote for 'Corporations are People.'
Some voters in the Palmetto state were in on the joke. TV host and conservative spoofer Stephen Colbert made a last-minute push to have voters vote for Herman Cain. He told supporters at the College of Charleston Friday that if that was a joke, then the Supreme Court decision that allows the formation of unlimited fundraising and spending from Super PACs is also a joke. That's why he asked S.C. voters to vote for Cain and support the soundbite "Corporations are People." And judging by Cain grabbing more votes than any other dropped-out candidate, including Texas Gov. Rick Perry who dropped out earlier in the week, some of the voters in the state agree. South Carolina's open primary process, which allows Democrats and independents to also …
Gay rights activists and Occupy Charleston chant 'Rick, Rick, Rick, bigot, bigot, bigot.'
THE CITADEL — About 20 demonstrators crashed the Rick Santorum results party at the military college in Charleston. As Santorum closed his speech focusing on building strong family values, a gay rights activist said: "Except when you're gay" and threw a handful of glitter in the air. Members of the Occupy Charleston group joined in with chants of "Rick, Rick, Rick, bigot, bigot, bigot" and singing "Santorum, Santorum, you're a bigot." As police escorted the group out, they shouted about Jesus preaching love. The police escorted many members of the movement off-campus and would not allow them to retreive their vehicles parked there. But there were no arrests or incidents. Speaking to Patch, Occupier Adrianna Varedi of Charleston said …
Triumphant candidate greets rabid crowd in Columbia, and now sets his sights on Florida.
This story has been updated. As the wine flowed and the music blared Saturday night, a triumphant Newt Gingrich and several hundred rabid supporters celebrated a resounding victory over the rest of the Republican field and vowed to take the fight on to Florida. Introducing Gingrich to a capacity crowd at the Hilton Hotel ballroom in Columbia, Billy Wilkins, a former Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, said: "Make no mistake about it. This was a landslide victory." "This was the political version of a tsunami," he said to rousing applause. Onstage, Gingrich told the crowd: "With your help, we are now moving on to Florida -- and beyond." The victory Saturday was Gingrich's first after dismal showings in…
GOP Primary Day draws crowds in Goose Creek, but weather could impact turnout.
A veteran poll manager for 35 years, Virginia Hill had her reservations about a Saturday primary. But she said turnout seemed to at least meet numbers of past primaries. "It's amazing," she said. "We've had a real steady flow." The race for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination brought out voters in Iowa and New Hampshire comparable to 2008 numbers. But the expectation is that South Carolina would provide the clearest picture yet of conservative sentiment. At Westview Middle School, where three precincts were combined, the line was 30-deep at 10:30 a.m. Poll manager Brad Williams said they've seen about 100 voters an hour. Other parts of the state were already seeing heavy rain early in the day, and reporting that turnout had been impacted…
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Westview Middle School
101 Westview Dr, Goose Creek, SC
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Goose Creek Primary School
200 Foster Creek Rd, Goose Creek, SC
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John H
7:59 am on Saturday, April 28, 2012
I think it’s ironic that the much maligned governor, at least in this forum, backed the eventual nominee first. Very interesting. more ›