State House corruption probe hangs over Lexington County special election

When five Republican candidates for a Lexington County seat in the S.C. House debated Thursday, it felt like another candidate was in the room at times.

The candidates in the District 69 special election spoke at a forum hosted by the Lexington County GOP and the River Bluff High School Teenage Republicans. The candidates are vying to succeed former state Rep. Rick Quinn, who resigned in December and entered a guilty plea to a misdemeanor ethics violation, part of an ongoing probe into State House corruption.

Corruption and public trust were among the prime topics at the debate, held less than two weeks before the Feb. 27 GOP primary.

The forum featured attorney and former legislative staffer Joel Deason; Lexington 1 school board member Anne Marie Eckstorm Green; small businessman and former hairdresser Alan Ray; attorney Michael Weaver; and fitness center owner Chris Wooten.

“I’ve had people tell me, ‘Rick Quinn stood where you’re standing now, and he won me over,’ ” Deason said. “They feel betrayed.”

Many said they felt lawmakers needed to face tougher consequences if they violate the public trust. Prosecutors had sought up to a year in prison for Quinn. Instead, the former lawmaker was sentenced to probation and community service earlier this week.

“We have to disincentivize bad acts,” said Weaver. “We give our representatives in Columbia our public trust, and if they violate that trust, they should not get a slap on the wrist, they should go to jail.”

Ray promised he won’t take any special interest money in his campaign.

“I’m going to be for the voters only, not big business, not special interests,” Ray said. “The only way to get rid of corruption is to elect new people.”

Green and Wooten both said they support term limits as a curb on legislators’ power.

“There’s a lot of power in the Legislature in just a few hands, and once they have it, they don’t want to let it go,” Green said.

Green also wants to see stronger freedom of information laws, while Wooten said legislators should not be electing the judges that many lawyer-lawmakers go on to practice in front of.

Other questions – drawn up for the forum by River Bluff students – focused on school issues.

In the aftermath of Wednesday’s Florida school shooting, the Teenage Republicans asked how the candidates would better protect them in school.

Lexington 1 school board member Green assured the crowd that district’s schools are safe, adding the district has “a great relationship” with the Sheriff’s Department and police. However, Green wants to see more money for school resource officers and mental health counseling.

Many candidates said mental health services were needed to prevent troubled individuals from turning violent.

Weaver said he supports putting metal detectors into schools. Wooten declined to answer the question, saying it was too soon after Wednesday’s shooting to play “political games” with the tragedy.

If no candidate wins a majority of the vote on Feb. 27, the top two candidates will face off in a March 13 runoff. The general election is scheduled for May 1, with only a third-party candidate slated to run against the Republican nominee.

The winning candidate will be sworn in just before the legislative session is scheduled to end. Along with the rest of the House, the seat will be up for re-election in November.

This story was originally published February 15, 2018 at 9:26 PM with the headline "State House corruption probe hangs over Lexington County special election."