Spartanburg County Says 'No' to Paying for GOP Primary

Spartanburg became the first county to draw a line in the sand on the issue of electoral funding on Friday morning, when its council voted unanimously to refuse to use county dollars to fund next year's GOP presidential primary. 

If necessary, Spartanburg County Council agreed to pursue legal action against the South Carolina Election Commission to prevent Spartanburg from incurring costs associated with the 2012 GOP primary. 

Spartanburg County Elections Director Henry Laye addressed council before the decision was made, and Conway Belangia, who coordinates elections in Greenville County, was also in attendance — a possible foreshadowing of further legal alliances to come. 

At the heart of the issue is whether or not any of the state's counties to cover any runover costs associated with the GOP presidential primary, which is likely to be February or earlier. 

"County council voted unanimously to pursue legal action to get the political parties to fully fund the election," Laye said. "We're perfectly agreeable to holding the election if it is fully funded. But, we'll have to get a clearer definition of what a 'refundable cost' is."

Council's stance was clear — no funding, no primary. 

The Democratic Party is unlikely to hold a primary, while the GOP primary tentatively set for February is likely to cost roughly $1.5 million, according to the state Election Commission.

Earlier this year, the S.C. General Assembly approved some $680,000 in rollover funds from the last election cycle, while the SCGOP stands to pitch in some $300,000 in candidate filing fees by the time of the primary.

The Election Commission and the South Carolina Attorney General's office contend that 2012's primaries constitute a state-mandated election event. 

Jeff Horton, chairman of the Spartanburg County Council, said he believes parties should be responsible for conducting their own primaries. 

"We as a county and as an association (South Carolina Association of Counties) could not get any clarification on A; if state would ante up any additional funds to pay for election, B; would the state party be paying for the elections and then C; are we bound by state statute of any type to hold a presidential primary that is really a non-binding primary, sends no delegate to any convention or anything like that," Horton said. 

Belangia confirmed Greenville County would likely take the next step, however, he could not say what action that might be.

"That would be up to Greenville County Council to undertake that," Belangia said. "But I'm sure they will take up the issue, probably at their next meeting." 

Horton predicted Greenville's council may take similar action to his. 

"I think Greenville will vote next meeting to pursue corrective action. Our local election commissions don't mind holding elections, but we've got to have money, and we haven't budgeted for this," Horton said.

Bob Mihalic, governmental affairs coordinator for Greenville County, could only confirm that the county was in fact concerned with the issue, and was weighing its options. 

"Greenville County Council will likely meet on this topic, most likely before the Oct. 4 council meeting," Mihalic said. "We're taking our time, we're being careful, deliberate, gathering facts — getting all the information we can, so we can make an informed decision."