Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Democrat will challenge Gov. Nikki Haley.
Vincent Sheheen put to rest months of speculation by announcing his candidacy for Governor on Wednesday morning. The Kershaw Democrat will likely challenge Gov. Nikki Haley in a rematch of the 2010 race which saw Haley win by 4.4 percentage points. Haley has not officially announced her candidacy, but is expected to do so after the legislative session ends in June. Sheheen has been a persistent critic of Haley's since then, most recently pointing to the cybersecurity breach of the Revenue Department as an example of Haley's leadership failures. In an email to supporters Sheheen wrote: South Carolina is the greatest state in the union, with unlimited potential. But let's face it, the status quo is not working. I want what you want - a …
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Senator's book tour gives him the latitude to talk policy without the election spotlight.
It’s too soon to say if the proposals in Vincent Sheheen lays out in his book will be effective. But as a public relations device it’s already yielded great results. For the last few weeks the Kershaw County senator has travelled the state talking about his book “The Right Way” and his ideas to improve South Carolina. Given that Sheheen seems all but certain to again challenge Nikki Haley for governor, the tour is a pre-campaign of sorts. But without the trappings of an election, the book gives Sheheen a way to give voters an idea of the priorities he would have as governor. “Too many politicians talk in sound bites and not about substantive issues, so I wanted to write about policies I’ve talked about in the Senate as well as some new …
Sunday, March 24, 2013
After slamming Gov. Nikki Haley, O'Malley touts likely Democratic frontrunner.
Saturday was not Maryland Gov. Martin O”Malley’s first trip to South Carolina. His daughter is a student at the College of Charleston and during his Keynote Address at the 2nd Annual Democratic Party Issues Conference, he also talked about visits to Fort Moultrie with his sons. The theme of O’Malley’s speech was results in place of ideology. Re-elected in 2010 with 56 percent of the vote, O’Malley blasted the record of Nikki Haley on several fronts. He noted the Department of Revenue cybersecurity breach, the state’s continued struggles to improve public education and Haley’s rejection of hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid expansion. He also noted that even with the addition of thousands of jobs, South Carolina still has one of …
Monday, March 18, 2013
Palmetto State had a prominent seat at the table.
After every presidential year, the losing party retreats into conference to plot a path towards winning the races it just lost. 2012 was no different. What was different was the way in which Democrats defeated Republicans at the polls. Despite high unemployment and economic sluggishness, Barack Obama was easily re-elected, winning by five million votes over Mitt Romney. At the start of 2012, the GOP thought it could win a majority in the Senate. It ended up losing seats. In the House, the Republicans kept the majority, but a few of the most extreme members, such as Allen West of Florida and Joe Walsh of Illinois were bounced from office. The closer the numbers were looked at, the worse the picture became. Republicans have a serious problem…
Sunday, March 10, 2013
The two-term Senator has a number of significant facts working to his advantage.
The latest round of protests against Sen. Lindsey Graham reached a fever pitch when he slammed Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s 13-hour filibuster last Wednesday. Graham's criticism prompted a vocal group of conservatives inside and outside the Palmetto State to think the episode might finally be enough to bounce him from office. But, the fact is Lindsey Graham will likely be re-elected in 2014 to a third term as the senior Senator from South Carolina. Paul was holding up the nomination of John Brennan for CIA chief by protesting the Obama Administration’s policy on drones, a policy that Graham supports. The crux of Paul’s argument was based on the fear that Obama might have the power to use drones against American citizens on American soil. …
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Most of the seats look safe, but a few others are all but certain to be challenged.
Much of the political media’s attention on 2014 has focused on Gov. Nikki Haley’s re-election prospects and on the two senate races that will feature Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, who will both be heavily favored to get re-elected. But down the ticket, in the other statewide constitutional offices, chatter and positioning has already begun. Those offices are (with current occupant—all of whom are Republicans): Loftis and Wilson have been rumored to seek higher office from the time they were sworn in. But Loftis squelched such rumors when he announced last month he’ll run for re-election. Wilson has not disclosed his plans. Neither man should get much of a challenge in a primary or general election. But insiders on both sides of the …
Monday, February 11, 2013
Former gubernatorial candidates have joined forces to form the Free Citizens Party.
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Monday, February 11
A new political party has formed in South Carolina. The Free Citizens Party held its first organizational meeting this weekend, according to a report from the Free Times. The party is being formed by Jim Rex, former State Superintendent of Education and a 2010 gubernatorial candidate, and Dr. Oscar Lovelace, a Republican candidate for governor in 2006. "Since our experience as gubernatorial candidates, Jim and I, have become resolute in our conviction that the current two party system is broken beyond repair and owned by the corporate interests which fund and control them," Lovelace said in an email obtained by Brad Warthen, former editor at The State and a local political blogger. The new party will focus on a number of things including…
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Mike Burns thwarts Chris Sullivan's spirited attempt to cut into large lead established in Jan. 22 primary.
Mike Burns of Travelers Rest virtually assured himself the District 17 seat in the South Carolina House of Representatives on Tuesday by defeating Chris Sullivan in a run-off. Burns, who fell just short of winning the Jan. 22 Republican primary outright, garnered 1,383 votes Tuesday, good for roughly 55 percent of votes, compared to 1,134 for Sullivan. Sullivan received plenty of endorsements ahead of Tuesday's contest, but it was Burns' furious ground campaign that won the day. "After we got into the runoff, we set a goal of about 600 home visits," Burns said. "So it was very much a grassroots, to-the-people interview process, if you will, with the people of this district. We tried to stay with the people. We listened to them. We …
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Sullivan trying to mount a comeback after falling well short of Burns' vote total two weeks ago.
The polls open up at 7 p.m. in the House District 17 area of Greenville County, where voters will select either Chris Sullivan or Mike Burns to replace Tom Corbin in the South Carolina House of Representatives. Burns, a businessman from Travelers Rest, garnered 1,114, just shy of 50 percent of the vote in the Jan. 22 special primary election. Sullivan, a longtime political consultant, received only 874 votes, but has since had his candidacy endorsed in between the Jan. 22 contest and the run-off by multiple parties, including the third-place finisher Roy Harmon. The winner of the GOP run-off will move onto the special election on March 12. No Democrats have filed in the overwhelmingly Republican district. The House 17 seat was opened up…
Friday, February 1, 2013
Sullivan continues to rack up endorsements ahead of Feb. 5 run-off.
Chris Sullivan continued to enjoy a stream of endorsements Thursday ahead of the Feb. 5 run-off with Travelers Rest businessman Mike Burns. Burns enjoyed a sizable lead over the five-man Republican field in the Jan. 22 primary to fill the District 17 seat in the South Carolina House of Representatives, receiving just shy of half the votes. But Sullivan, a longtime political consultant, has landed multiple prominent endorsements just days ahead of his one-on-one matchup with Burns. The most recent endorsement comes from The Republican Liberty Caucus, whose South Carolina Board of Directors, in consultation with its affiliated Upstate chapter, voted to throw its support in favor of Sullivan. In a release, the RLC calls Burns and Sullivan …
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11:52 am on Thursday, April 25, 2013
All I can say is, after this debacle: http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20121107/PC16/121109385, I don't understand how anyone can vote for Nikki Haley ever again. This was a total failure on behalf of her administration and they passed the buck around on this one for quite some time before letting those affected know what to do. I have friends that got letters in the mail 4 MONTHS later … more ›