Tag: Luke Rankin

Mica’s Law, Funding Issues and the Rankin Campaign for Reelection

A proposed Mica’s Law and the need for it were the topic of conversation by Attorney Regina Ward as a guest on the TALK 94.5 Liz Calloway Show today.
References were made to Ward’s press conference last week bringing light to much needed action by the General Assembly to pass coercive control legislation to close a gap in current domestic abuse law.
The latest form of the legislation was filed in the SC Senate in December 2021. It died in the Senate Judiciary Committee chaired by Horry County Sen. Luke Rankin.
Calloway said the show reached out to both Rankin and his opponent in tomorrow’s Republican Primary for Senate District 33, Autry Benton. According to Calloway, Rankin referred the show to a statement he made after the press conference in which he called that event a political stunt. Benton said he would take Mica’s Law legislation and run with it, if elected.

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The Mica’s Law Press Conference Was Not a Political Stunt

The recent Mica’s Law press conference held by Conway Attorney Regina Ward and the reaction to it by District 33 Sen. Luke Rankin provided a microcosm of why voters are increasingly fed up with government and why change is needed in Columbia.
Mica’s Law is named after Mica Miller, a client of Ward’s who, reportedly, suffered from coercive control domestic violence before she tragically took her own life in a state park in North Carolina on April 27th of this year.
Ward criticized both houses of the SC General Assembly for ignoring bills which were filed in two consecutive legislative sessions, The bills dealt with providing law enforcement authority to investigate a form of domestic violence known as coercive control.
During her remarks, Ward mentioned that Rankin is Chairman of the Senate Judiciary, where the proposed legislation was left to die without any work being done on it. Ward’s press conference was covered extensively locally.

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The Contradictions and Dead Ends in the Rankin Campaign

Senator Luke Rankin’s answers to a local media outlet about what he could accomplish in Columbia for the citizens of Horry County were contradictory at best while appearing to leave voters at the same dead ends they are experiencing now.
On the hottest topic in Horry County at present, roads and other infrastructure needs, Rankin reportedly pointed to his 32-year seniority in the Senate as a huge asset.
Rankin was quoted as saying, “Being in a leadership position you can bring more money home for roads, for schools and for projects we’ve had here, across the county itself and particularly in District 33,” and “I’m proud to have been able to show the folks of Horry County that seniority does pay off.”
Rankin proceeded to contradict himself later in the article when he reportedly said it was impractical to rely on additional funding from the state level to push forward new projects. He was quoted as saying, “The idea, as nice as it might sound, somebody else (the state budget) needs to pay for our way is like waiting for the Great Pumpkin in the Charlie Brown series. That Great Pumpkin ain’t coming to pay for roads we desperately need.”

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Rankin Claims Victimhood From Mica’s Law Press Conference

Senator Luke Rankin responded to Attorney Regina Ward’s press conference yesterday about a proposed coercive control bill (Mica’s Law) with a Facebook post saying Ward was taking a political cheap shot against him.
Does Rankin actually believe that a press conference aimed at helping a coercive control bill to become law is in South Carolina is all about him?
Ward only mentioned Rankin as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, where the bill died in the Senate, in passing during her press conference. But, Ward did note that Rankin thought enough of the problems of domestic abuse to falsely charge his 2020 opponent for the District 33 Senate seat with committing domestic abuse.
Maybe the political stunts are being confused.

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Does Luke Rankin Really Have Your Back?

In a moment of supreme irony a new television ad proclaiming “Luke’s got your back” hit the airwaves shortly after a press conference was held in Conway questioning “Where was Luke” with regard to a bill that may have helped save the life of Mica Miller.
Regina Ward, the attorney representing the family and estate of Mica Miller, spoke with the press yesterday about the failure of a “Coercive Control” bill to even get out of the Judiciary Committee of the SC Senate and the SC House over a period of four years.
Mica Miller was the estranged second wife of Pastor John-Paul Miller when she took her own life on April 27th of this year at the Lumber River State Park in Robeson County, North Carolina. Mica’s death has been ruled a suicide by the Robeson County Coroner.
Mica was reportedly in the middle of divorce proceedings with her estranged husband John-Paul when she took her life. Since her death, details of how Mica’s life was manipulated by her estranged husband through a form of domestic violence called “coercive control” have come to light.

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Dark Money Attacks Benton in District 33 Senate Race

Dark money has made its way into the SC Senate District 33 race with attack ads on challenger Autry Benton.
This is not an unexpected development as incumbent Senator Luke Rankin appears to be struggling to gain traction with his message for reelection to voters.
Our American Century PAC raised its head in Horry County again by paying for negative tv ads against Rankin’s opponent, Autry Benton, which began this past week.
There were two points the ads attempted to attack Benton on – PPP money and a contract that Benton’s business, Benton Concrete, had with the City of Conway.
As far as PPP money goes, the Rankin & Rankin Law Firm also received PPP money from the federal program to aid businesses through the Covid Pandemic. The amount of money businesses received was determined by a formula connected to number of employees and payroll.

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Deceptive Messaging from the Rankin Campaign

The Rankin campaign mailers have raised questions about the accuracy of the message being promoted for Rankin’s reelection.
One side of last week’s mailer showed Rankin in a picture with Chief Mark Keel of SLED, Chief Amy Prock of Myrtle Beach and Chief Dale Long of Conway. The title was “Luke Rankin is Standing with Law Enforcement to Keep South Carolina Safe.”
Rankin is certainly standing with three police chiefs in the picture. However, any implication which may be drawn from the picture that the chiefs support the Rankin campaign are false. Emails were sent to all three chiefs asking whether they had approved the use of their picture on a Rankin campaign mailer and whether they endorsed Rankin for reelection.
Chief Keel and Chief Prock responded. Both said they had not given approval for their picture to be used on the campaign mailer. Both also said they don’t endorse candidates. The picture was taken at a South Carolina Police Chiefs Association Meeting at the South Carolina State House last month. Chief Long did not respond.

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Rankin Mailer Filled with Political Speak

Every election season, voters are inundated with mailers, television and radio ads and pronouncements on social media about the qualities of candidates and the alleged successes of incumbents.
South Carolina law only requires two things on these various campaign missives to be truthful – who paid for the ad, mailer, etc. and the mailing address of the paying person or entity. The remainder can be filled with “political speak” which does not have to bear any resemblance to the facts.
This week voters in SC Senate District 33 received a mailer from incumbent Sen. Luke Rankin extolling how Rankin had “delivered” for the citizens of his district. But, in its search for “deliveries”, the Rankin piece went down “roads” traveled by many other people.
Under the heading of “Infrastructure Enhancements”, the mailer claims Rankin “led the charge to fund $1.8 billion in Horry Co. road improvements, with $4 billion more to come in the next 5 years – paid overwhelmingly by our 14 million annual tourists.”
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Grand Strand Humane Society Cleared for Construction of Waterside Drive Animal Shelter

The Grand Strand Humane Society is cleared to begin construction of its animal shelter and associated businesses, according to a briefing of the Horry County Infrastructure and Regulation Committee yesterday.
According to the details of that briefing, the property on Waterside Drive to which the Humane Society was given a 40-year gratis lease by owner Santee Cooper, the property was zoned LI (Limited Industrial) in 1987 and one of the approved uses since that time is animal services.
According to the briefing, the text amendment to the LI zoning classification, which was approved by county council in December 2023, had nothing to do with the Humane Society’s use of the property.
Despite the legal clearance, the residents of the Waterside Drive community are unhappy about the potential impacts the animal shelter and associated businesses will have on their neighborhood.
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Rankin Only Republican Senator to Vote Against Constitutional Carry Bill

Since switching parties in 2004, conservative constituents of Senator Luke Rankin have questioned whether he is a RINO (Republican in Name Only). The answer may have finally come with a vote Rankin cast in the SC Senate last week.
Rankin is completing his eighth consecutive term as a Senator, representing District 33. In 1992, 1996 and 2000, Rankin was elected as a Democrat. By the 2004 election, Democrats basically could not get elected in Horry County any longer, so Rankin switched parties and has run as a Republican for his last five terms.
Last week, the SC Senate passed a constitutional carry bill, which will allow law-abiding citizens to carry loaded guns without any training or a permit. The vote was 28-15 to pass the bill with 28 of the 29 Republican senators in attendance voting to approve the bill. Rankin, the lone Republican senator to vote against the bill, joined the 14 Democrat senators in attendance to vote NO.
Immediately after the bill passed, the South Carolina Senate Republican Caucus issued a press release applauding the bill’s passage. The release began, “Once again, Senate Republicans delivered on their promises and passed H.3594, the South Carolina Constitutional Carry Act.” The release also stated, “The People asked and Republicans listened.”

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