Saturday, May 4, 2013
Harrison is first African-American elected to lead SCDP; Connelly re-elected by SCGOP.
The major political parties in South Carolina held their biannual conventions in Columbia on Saturday. The most significant outcome was the election of Jaime Harrison as the Chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party. Harrison becomes the first African-American to lead a party in the state. Despite the fact that it holds all but one of the seats in the Congressional delegation and all of the constitutional offices, the Republicans gathering was decidedly more contentious. In the weeks leading up to the convention, a rift developed within the party against Chad Connelly, who was running again for state chair. The opposition to Connelly was centered in the Upstate and among some liberty activists. Critics of Connelly pointed to the …
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…
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Chad Connelly explains why Mitt Romney is the right man for the job.
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Thursday, August 30, 2012
Elections matter. They matter for our prosperity, they matter for our freedom, and they matter for our future. On November 6, our nation will make a critical choice. Through their visions and voices, American presidents set the course for our great republic. In 2008, our nation chose a candidate for president who offered hope and change and bold promises that his policies would lead us out of the economic doldrums and build a stronger economy. Now, almost four years later, we are still waiting for those promises to be fulfilled. The American dream is fading fast for too many. President Barack Obama's prescriptions of more taxes, more debt, more burdensome regulations, and a federal takeover of health care have not helped to fix our …
Monday, August 20, 2012
One of Mitt Romney's leading supporters has a prime time slot.
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has been given a prime time speaking spot for the Republican National Convention. She's scheduled to take the stage on Monday at 10 p.m. in Tampa. Haley endorsed presumptive nominee Mitt Romney last December and the former Massachusetts governor led polls in the weeks leading up to the South Carolina primary. But a surge in the final days by Newt Gingrich was too much for Romney to overcome and for the first time since 1976 the Palmetto State did not choose the eventual GOP nominee. Since the primary, Haley has campaigned on several occasions with Romney while simultaneously rejecting the suggestion that she was in line for a possible nod as Romney's running mate. Rob Godfrey, Haley's spokesman said, "The …
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Chairman Chad Connelly given authority to intervene in ballot issues.
The South Carolina Republican party is “unified” according to Executive Director Matt Moore after a session between the party’s executive committee and chairman Chad Connelly on Tuesday night in Columbia. The meeting was called after the executive committee expressed concerns about Connelly’s intervention in the race for the District 3 house seat in Pickens County. As a result of the meeting, the executive committee will now support Connelly’s decision. In the District 3 race, incumbent B.R. Skelton was narrowly defeated by Ed Harris in the primary on June 12. After his loss, Skelton filed an appeal with the executive committee, accusing Harris of filing improperly and therefore being ineligible. But the executive committee rejected …
Monday, April 16, 2012
Amanda Somers looked to be one step closer to becoming District 5's next state senator, but now the South Carolina GOP is opening up the field for more candidates after incumbent Phillip Shoopman pulled out of the race.
The lone Republican candidate for South Carolina's District 5 Senate seat is questioning the fairness and investigating the legality of a the SCGOP chairman's decision to re-open candidate filing for the position after the incumbent abruptly pulled out of the race. Phillip Shoopman, a Republican who has served District 5 for six years in the Senate, wrote a letter to SCGOP Chairman Chad Connelly over the weekend informing him of his decision to not seek re-election. "It has become obvious that I cannot continue to provide the desired level of service and maintain adequate time with my family and private work," Shoopman wrote. Connelly immediately re-opened candidate filing. SCGOP Executive Director Matt Moore said the new candidate filing …
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to speak at Silver Elephant dinner May 19
The South Carolina Republican Party announced Tuesday that Florida Sen. Marco Rubio would be the keynote speaker at its Silver Elephant dinner on May 19. "This year's Silver Elephant dinner will honor our party's proud heritage, as the first Silver Elephant dinners attracted Republicans from all walks of life," SCGOP Chairman Chad Connelly said. "Senator Rubio's personal story, combined with his outstanding leadership in Washington, make him a perfect choice for the occasion." Rubio, who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010, has become one of the Republican Party's top young leaders and his name has been floated as a possible vice presidential candidate. According to a release from the party, "the May 19 dinner will celebrate the state's…
Monday, March 5, 2012
S.C. county requires candidates to make pledge to get on ballot
The Republican Party in one South Carolina county adjusted its policies last week to require candidates to sign pledges asserting that they live up to certain conservative principles, according to The Clinton Chronicle. The Laurens County GOP added 28 "principles of Republicanism" to a pledge that a candidate must sign in order to be on a Republican primary ballot there. Some of the required pledge items include: You must oppose abortion, in any circumstances. You must uphold the right to have guns, all kinds of guns. You must endorse the idea of a balanced state and federal budget, whatever it takes, even if your primary responsibility is to be sure the county budget is balanced. You must favor, and live up to, abstinence before …
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
SCGOP Chairman Chad Connelly lays out expectations for the primary
South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Chad Connelly said Wednesday he expects the Palmetto State to continue its streak of picking presidents despite the lack of a clear GOP frontrunner. "We’re going to preserve our unbroken tradition," Connelly said. "For 30 years now we have picked the eventual nominee on the Republican side and we’re legitimate." Connelly addressed the media to lay out his expectations for the next 17 days and discuss some details of how the primary will work. The party chairman said he expected a fluid process during the next two weeks. He said South Carolina's low-cost media market and diverse Republican electorate gave every candidate a chance to win. "We have probably one of the better mixtures and cross-sections…
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Executive director talks all things primary
There are still about two months remaining until South Carolina holds its Republican presidential primary on Jan. 21 and the election has already made plenty of news without a single vote having been cast. From questions about whether the state would retain its “First in the South” status, to who will pay for the primary, to the possibility that the streak of selecting the eventual nominee might be broken, the election has been on the lips of both close and casual observers. And that’s not even mentioning the topsy-turvy nature of the candidates' poll numbers. Few South Carolinians are following events closer than Matt Moore, executive director of the South Carolina GOP. Patch had a chance to speak with Moore about what’s happened to date …
Shawn Drury
11:43 pm on Saturday, May 4, 2013
Rusty, You are correct. I used the wrong principal. (subsequently corrected). SD more ›