Charlotte Observer CHARLESTON, S.C. In a primary season without statewide races, most of the attention is focused on South Carolina’s new 7th Congressional District, with 13 candidates vying for major party nominations in the district in the northeastern corner of the state. “From what I’m seeing in the polls and […]
Author: Paul Gable
Republican Party’s Day in Court
The Republican Party will have the opportunity Monday to convince the justices of the S.C. Supreme Court that it did follow state law and the May 2, 2012 ruling of the court in certifying candidates for the June 12, 2012 primary ballot.
The task will not be easy for party officials because documents released in the past month point to the fact that the party did not follow the law. In fact, charges of favoritism and cherry picking candidates for certification have been levied by unsuccessful candidates.
Two cases will be heard Monday. The first has the Florence County Democratic Party suing the Florence County Republican Party for certifying candidates who did not file in accordance with the law. The second has House District 105 candidate Bert von Hermann suing to have candidate Blake Hewitt removed from the ballot for not filing properly. Von Hermann is already off the ballot for the same reason.
Legends in Concert Announces Limited Engagement
Legends in Concert Myrtle Beach Announces Special, Limited Engagement Performances for Elvis Tribute Artist Grahame Patrick
Legends in Concert Myrtle Beach is proud to welcome revered Elvis Tribute Artist, Grahame Patrick, to the Myrtle Beach stage for a limited engagement appearance.
Grahame is scheduled to appear at Legends’ new Broadway at The Beach venue from June 4th through July 15th, 2012. Grahame has been an Elvis tribute artist with Legends In Concert for many incredible years and for a limited time only he will be donning the jumpsuit for Myrtle Beach fans.
Grahame is also scheduled to make a special appearance during the June 30th Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest.
Haley’s Ethics Defense
Gov. Nikki Haley’s defense for alleged ethics violations during her time as a House member became obvious this week when the House Ethics Committee voted to hold a full scale investigation.
Haley’s lawyer has said she did nothing more than other lawmakers do and to investigate Haley’s actions would bring those lawmakers’ actions into question. He said he would provide the committee with a list of lawmakers who work for lobbyists’ principals.
That’s the old ‘everybody’s doing it so it’s okay’ defense.
Haley claimed the original investigation (of which there was none) was dismissed based on fact, but the investigation has now been reopened for political reasons. Haley asked that she be left alone to “do her job”, whereupon she almost immediately left for Wisconsin to campaign for Gov. Scott Walker in his recall election.
Huckabee Endorses Bauer for 7th District
Huckabee backs Bauer in new television ad beginning today
( Myrtle Beach , SC )…Saying “He’s just the kind of true conservative leader we need in Washington “, Governor Mike Huckabee today endorsed former Republican Lt. Governor Andre Bauer in South Carolina ‘s 7th district congressional race.
In his endorsement, Huckabee goes on to say, “Andre Bauer protects the right to life of the unborn, honors our Christian heritage and defends our God-given liberty.”
“I am proud and honored to have the support of one of our nations leading conservative leaders,” said Bauer. “There is no questioning Mike Huckabee’s credentials and his commitment to strong moral leadership in our country.”
Ballot Controversy in Georgetown County
We continue to receive evidence of the Republican Party picking and choosing which candidates were to be left off the June 12, 2012 primary ballots, despite a very clear decision by the S.C. Supreme Court on May 2, 2012.
The latest information we have received comes from Georgetown County where auditor candidate Rod Stalvey was left off the ballot while others who followed the same instructions he did are included on the ballot.
Stalvey sent a letter to the South Carolina Republican Party questioning his exclusion from the ballot, but did not receive an answer to his questions.
Brittain Gains Important Endorsements
Seventh Congressional District Democratic candidate Preston Brittain gained five major endorsements yesterday, pushing him to the front of the field of four contesting the upcoming June 12th primary for the new U.S. House seat.
Congressman Jim Clyburn, former Congressman John Spratt, former Governor Jim Hodges, and state Senators John Land and Vincent Sheheen announced their support for Brittain’s candidacy through a conference call Tuesday.
Each candidate praised Brittain’s understanding of the needs of the entire district as well as his desire to bring the Interstate 73 project to fruition.
The endorsements by five of the most important and recognizable Democrats in the state appear to make Brittain the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination.
Haley’s Ethics Problems
The ethics investigation into actions of Gov. Nikki Haley while she was a member of the House could cause the governor considerable problems with ethics laws.
In a complaint to the S .C. House of Representatives, Republican activist John Rainey alleged Haley “traded on the influence of her office (representative) for her personal benefit and the benefit of those paying her by (1) lobbying a state agency, (2) failing to disclose that her reason for recusing herself from voting on legislation was because the legislation’s beneficiary was secretly paying her, (3) failing to abstain from a vote authorizing payment of public money to a corporation paying her, (4) soliciting money from registered lobbyists and lobbyist principals for the benefit of her employer and (5) concealing all of this activity by making false and incomplete public disclosures.”
The S.C. Ethics Commission defines a lobbyist, “as any person who is employed, appointed, or retained, with or without compensation, by another person to influence by direct communication with public officials or public employees.”
The Lesson of Alexander Hamilton
We take money for granted — most people can’t tell us which way George Washington is facing on the quarter. They can tell us that Ben Franklin is on the front of the hundred, but they can’t tell us that Independence Hall (where he helped draft the Constitution) is on the back.
One might think that as denominations get smaller and more common, the pictures on them would become more famous and well-known. The ten-dollar bill features Alexander Hamilton on the front. Since he was never a president himself, one wonders how many Americans could explain how he got on the note. A hint is on the back, where there is a picture of the U.S. Treasury. In short, Alexander Hamilton was the first secretary of the Treasury.
But it was how he handled that position that garnered him immortality on our money.
Will Haley be Next Political Casualty of 2012?
In this strangest of all political seasons, the number of political casualties continues to rise by the week as new disclosures are made about challengers and incumbents. And it is not over yet by a long shot.
Over 200 state and local candidates for elective office have already been removed from the June 12th primary ballots and more seem destined to be disqualified in the upcoming weeks.
Two front running candidates for the new 7th Congressional District seat ended their campaigns after being arrested for what can only be called “extremely stupid acts” on their part.
Now, Gov. Nikki Haley’s ethics, while a state representative, are getting a second look and it appears that there is a lot more fire than smoke in the complaint against her.
Speak Up…