Pro-Haley group spending ‘six-figures’ to defeat 2 senators

A political group tied to S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley is mounting a six-figure campaign targeting the state’s most powerful politician and another lawmaker who has clashed with the governor.

A Great Day SC is spending six figures on two ads that started running this week in the Florence and Myrtle Beach television markets. The ads target state Senate President Pro Tempore Hugh Leatherman of Florence County and state Sen. Luke Rankin of Horry County, said Great Day leader Tim Pearson.

Like Haley, both Leatherman and Rankin are Republicans.

Great Day also is backing Rankin’s June 14 GOP primary opponent, Republican Scott Pyle, a financial adviser.

As of Tuesday, Great Day had reserved at least $80,000 in ad time over the next two weeks on cable and broadcast television stations in Florence and Myrtle Beach, according to a media buyer who researched the group’s plans.

But Pearson, Haley’s former chief of staff and her political adviser, said Wednesday the group is spending more – “well into the six figures” — to defeat Leatherman and Rankin.

“The governor always said that she wanted to make sure people know what lawmakers are doing in Columbia,” Pearson said. “And everything in these ads is true.”

Rankin, who has more than $281,000 in cash on hand for his re-election bid, could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.

Leatherman said he had not seen an ad targeting him. “I guess I ought to look at that and see what they say. ‘A nice guy?’ ”

Leatherman, elected in 1980, told reporters to look at his record to check the ad’s claims for accuracy.

Told the ad targets him for backing a gas-tax hike, Leatherman said he eventually led the fight this year to pay for road repairs without raising the gas tax.

However, Haley gave lawmakers the green light to raise gas taxes in her 2015 State of the State address. But Haley said any increase in the gas tax had to offset by a far larger income-tax cut, resulting in a net tax cut for South Carolinians.

Lawmakers came up with several plans to raise the gas tax and cut income taxes. But Haley decried the plans for not cutting taxes enough. Later, senators agreed on a plan that did not raise the gas tax.

Long-time GOP political consultant Richard Quinn predicted Leatherman and Rankin will survive the governor’s challenge.

Both “senators who are well-respected in their districts,” he said. “They will withstand these ads.”

A nonprofit that can accept unlimited contributions, A Great Day SC has raised $515,000 from six contributors from six states, according to public tax documents available online.

As of April, the donors included one S.C. contributor, an auto sales company from Hardeeville that gave $100,000.

Leatherman objected to out-of-state donors funding the pro-Haley PAC’s efforts.

“It bothers me, frankly, that we have out-of-state money pouring in here,” he said. “My take on the folks back in Florence? They absolutely detest out-of-state money coming in and trying to buy a Senate seat.”

Leatherman has $1.5 million to spend on his re-election bid, including a $750,000 personal loan.

The ads against Leatherman and Rankin, both of whom have GOP primary opposition, started running this week, about a month before the June 14 election.

Pearson would not discuss any plans by Great Day to target other legislators. But Haley has said she plans to campaign around the state to highlight the records of lawmakers who have failed to support her agenda.

The ad targeting Rankin accuses the six-term attorney-legislator of taking “liberal” votes. The ad then pivots to an endorsement of Pyle, calling him a “a conservative business man who understands the economy ... the new conservative voice we need in Columbia.”

Haley repeatedly has clashed with Leatherman, considered the state’s most powerful legislator because he controls the Senate’s budget-writing committee, sits on a powerful state spending panel and runs the Senate.

At the recent state Republican Party convention, Haley blamed Leatherman for a highway expansion project slated for a low-trafficked Florence road.

“Do you know why that’s happening?” Haley said. “Because the president of the Senate lives there.”

This story was originally published May 18, 2016 at 7:35 PM with the headline "Pro-Haley group spending ‘six-figures’ to defeat 2 senators."