Monday, June 18, 2012
Tommie Reece is hoping to give Sen. Mike Fair some competition in November.
Tommie Reece and her supporters will soon begin a petition drive to try to get Reece on the ballot in November's general election in her bid for the District 6 seat in South Carolina Senate. Reece, a Greenville County School Board member who seeks to unseat longtime incumbent Sen. Mike Fair, was ordered ineligible just three days before the June 12 primary because she did not file her statement of economic interest at the same time she officially declared her intention to run for the seat. Fair was able to defeat Sullivan by a 54 percent to 46 percent margin on Tuesday. Reece told Patch on Sunday that she plans on beginning her petition drive in earnest by this weekend, and that she and her volunteers were gathering information and …
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
After a tumultuous primary campaign season, it's finally time for you to cast your vote.
After weeks of controversy, including lawsuits over certification and filing deadlines, primary day has arrived. If you're looking for a list of polling places, look no further. Today's primary features some highly contested races within the Republican Party. The South Carolina Senate is guaranteed to introduce a new member after today, as Republican incumbent Phillip Shoopman has dropped out of the Senate 5 race for re-election, leaving Amanda Somers, a Greer business woman, to be the only GOP candidate standing. But when SCGOP Chairman Chad Connelly re-opened filing after Shoopman's announcement, Rep. Tom Corbin of Travelers Rest entered the fray. Wyatt Miler of Greer has dropped out of the race because he was de-certified due to …
Monday, June 11, 2012
Tommie Reece, a Senate 6 candidate, has joined candidates from two other counties in a federal suit seeking to either prevent the primary from moving forward Tuesday or have their names returned to ballot.
UPDATE: It's back to the drawing board for Tommie Reece. Reece, who is running for Senate 6 in Greenville County against incumbent Mike Fair, confirmed to Patch on Monday night that the lawsuit she was a party to had been met with failure in U.S. District Court. The ex parte restraining order requested by the lawsuit that would have prevented Tuesday's primaries from going forward - filed on the basis basis that Reece and four other candidates in the Upstate had been denied due process and rights under the Voters Rights Act - was denied Monday. "We knew it was a long shot, but hoped that we would be able to convince judges," Reece said. "They did consider it. They didn't just say no up front, which they could have done." Reece said it's …
Friday, June 8, 2012
After being decertified subsequent to a South Carolina Supreme Court ruling over proper filing of his statement of economic interest form, Miler is putting an end to his campaign.
Wyatt Miler, a Greer businessman who was running for the Senate 5 Senate seat being vacated by Phillip Shoopman, officially put his campaign to an end Friday, the day after he was informed his name couldn't be on the ballot due to improper filing. He and Senate 6 candidate, Tommie Reece, were informed yesterday that they couldn't be on the ballot because they didn't turn in their statement of economic interest forms at the same they they officially filed to run for office. Miler expressed frustration at the turn of events, but still offered his endorsement of Tom Corbin, a current Republican member of the state House of Representatives from Travelers Rest. “The Court’s decision to remove candidates on a hyper-technicality, ignores the …
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Both Chris Sullivan and Mike Fair have released campaign videos in the last 48 hours.
The campaigns of two South Carolina Senate candidates released Youtube videos on Monday and Tuesday, as the race enters its final stretch to the June 12 primary. Chris Sullivan, a longtime political consultant running for the District 6 seat in the Senate, released a video Wednesday composed of photos of he and his supporters on the campaign trail. On Monday, incumbent Mike Fair announced on his Facebook page his first video ad of the campaign, opting for a positive message delivered by various supporters in different walks of life. Fair followed that up with a video containing the endorsements of Dr. Bob Jones III and Rep. Dan Hamilton. Internet video has become a frequently-used tool in the Senate 6 race. Tommie Reece, a Greenville …
Friday, June 1, 2012
Senate District 5 candidate picks up endorsement from her hometown mayor.
Greer Mayor Rick Danner officially endorsed Amanda Somers' candidacy Thursday for the S.C. Senate District 5 seat. In a letter, Mayor Danner outlined why he believed Somers is the ideal candidate to represent the District 5, concentrating on her community involvement and business prowess. "Amanda has demonstrated her commitment to her community through her ongoing service as an active Christian, chamber member, small business owner and volunteer. Being so active in the community gives her a connection to the community that only comes from the kind of genuine conversations that occur at the grass roots level," Danner Wrote. "The most important reason I'll be voting for her on June 12 is that she has the heart of a public servant. I ask …
Thursday, April 26, 2012
State GOP chairman says Palmetto State's "first in the South" primary shouldn't be in jeopardy despite backing the wrong 2012 candidate.
Newt Gingrich appears set to bow out of the race for the Republican nomination for president, and the end of his campaign will also usher in the end of an era in South Carolina politics. For the last 30 years, the winner of the South Carolina Republican primary has gone on to win the GOP nomination. The state's predictive powers led Gingrich to rest the hopes of his faltering campaign on the South Carolina contest, projecting a victory in the race if he could reel in the Palmetto State. Gingrich went on to overwhelm Mitt Romney and the rest of the field in January, only to win only one more primary contest (his native Georgia) amid dozens over the next three months. Ultimately, it was Rick Santorum's conservative bona fides that served …
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
War of words between Charleston Place and SRLC.
Charleston Place is suing the Southern Republican Leadership Conference over an unpaid bill. The popular Lowcountry tourist destination is seeking $227,872.12 in damages following the SRLC's sparsely-attended January conference in the days leading up to the South Carolina GOP Presidential Primary. First reported by Charleston City Paper contributor Dan McCue, the complaint filed in the Charleston County Court of Common Pleas claims SRLC "was grossly undercapitalized, failed to observe corporate formalities, was insolvent, and was mere[ly] used as a façade for the operations of the defendant [organizer Robert] Cahaly." Poor attendance led GOP Primary candidate Newt Gingrich to cancel his apperance. The Columbia Free Times' Corey Hutchins …
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
With a waiting game over on Berkeley County votes, statewide loser wins 1st Congressional District.
Final results aren't certified yet, but an analysis of the totals for Saturday's GOP Presidential Preference Primary suggests that Mitt Romney isn't leaving South Carolina empty-handed after all. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich won a solid victory in the Palmetto State's primary, handing Romney a defeat in a state he was expected to win just days earlier. South Carolina's 25 delegates will be divvied up this way: Two delegates will be handed out based on the winner in each of the state's seven congressional districts and 11 delegates going to the statewide winner. Blog site Daily Kos was waiting on stragling Berkeley County votes before reporting its findings, but learned Wednesday that the results for a couple different precincts were …
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Romney, Perry ad buys don't result in votes
Republican presidential candidates spent the most money ever on advertising during the South Carolina primary, but it didn't necessarily result in success at the polls. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry spent the most on ads in South Carolina and got little return on their investment, according to The State. Romney and his Super PAC spent $4.7 million for a disappointing second-place finish and Perry spent $2.5 million before dropping out of the race prior to primary day. In contrast, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich spent $2.4 million in South Carolina and still ran away with the primary, earning 40 percent of the vote. Rep. Ron Paul and Sen. Rick Santorum each spent about $1.7 million in South Carolina and…
eric wood
11:27 am on Monday, June 18, 2012
We all need to sign the petition to get Tommie Reece on the ballot in November, not because we are her supports, but we because we support choice. The primary we just had was a disaster, partially due to the lack of candidates and part because a mere 10% of the registered voters actually participated. Let's try to get all registered voters to participate in November by adding choices to the … more ›