Tag: Vincent Sheheen

Thoughts on S.C. Gubernatorial Debate

The first S.C. Gubernatorial Debate for 2014 is now history and it proved absolutely nothing.

Gov. Nikki Haley is cruising to a second term election victory next month as long as she doesn’t make any fatal errors. Haley is smart enough to avoid fatal errors and she’ll “spin” her way out of any other miscues she makes like she always does.

Haley’s comment about being found “not guilty” on ethics violation charges is a perfect example, even though she paid ethics fines for incomplete campaign finance records and for using a state plane for prohibited events.

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1st Winthrop Poll Results Casinos and Politics Together

Gov. Nikki Haley holds a 10 point lead over Democrat Vincent Sheheen in the first Winthrop Poll results with other gubernatorial candidates making little impact.

In like manner, incumbent senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott hold very comfortable leads over their main Democratic challengers Brad Hutto and Joyce Dickerson, respectively.

Gambling in Myrtle Beach?

What makes this poll interesting is the three questions on gambling casinos. Respondents were split 47% to 47% when asked if they favored or opposed allowing a limited number of gambling casinos to operate in South Carolina.

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Vincent Sheheen Calls Out Chris Christie

Sen. Vincent Sheheen, the presumptive Democratic nominee to challenge Gov. Nikki Haley for the governor’s seat in the upcoming November general election, called out New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for hypocrisy.

Sheheen sent a letter to Christie calling on the N.J. governor to explain why the Republican Governors Association, which Christie chairs, financed an ad attacking Sheheen for Sheheen’s stance on Medicaid expansion.

Sheheen’s reasoning? The ad attacks Sheheen for taking a position, regarding federal dollars for Medicaid expansion, that Christie shares and has already accomplished in New Jersey.

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Sheheen Pushing Ethics Reform

Sen. Vincent Sheheen got in the middle of the ethics reform debate in South Carolina with a letter to Sen. Luke Rankin, chairman of the S.C. Senate Ethics Committee.

In his letter, Sheheen, a Democrat who is expected to oppose Gov. Nikki Haley next fall in a rematch of the 2010 gubernatorial election, advocates stopping “constant abuses in order to clean up our state government.”

Specifically Sheheen advocates barring the use of the state airplane, state cars or any other state vehicles from being for political purposes including carrying political staff to events or for conducting fundraising activities.

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Proposal for S.C. Transportation Reform

A bill introduced into the S.C. Senate last week provides hope for transportation reform in the state by dissolving the State Infrastructure Bank and folding its duties into the S.C. Department of Transportation.

The bi-partisan transportation reform bill, S-209, is co-sponsored by Sen. Harvey Peeler (R-Cherokee) and Sen. Vincent Sheheen (D-Kershaw). It proposes to restructure the state’s transportation agencies, better coordinate the highway construction process and eliminate irresponsible over-borrowing.

Peeler said the bill was needed to make sure road funding was a merit based and need based process.

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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.

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