SC watchdog calls on ethics board to review legality of $5,000 campaign donation

A South Carolina government watchdog has called on the state Ethics Commission to review campaign finance law after a special-interest donor filtered $5,000 through the Republican Party earlier this year to a Lexington County Council candidate.

Nephron Pharmaceuticals owner Lou Kennedy gave $5,000 to the S.C. Republican Party, which then passed it along to Lexington County Council candidate Glen Conwell on April 18. Donating this way allowed Kennedy to increase how much she could donate five-fold, as state law limits individual contributions to $1,000.

John Crangle said he called for the review because he believes the donation appears to violate campaign finance limits. Crangle, a Democrat, is challenging Republican state Rep. Kirkman Finlay of Richland County in the November election.

"In my opinion, it's illegal, but there's no Ethics Commission opinion on (this) point," Crangle said. "This gives the Ethics Commission the opportunity to say whether this donation, in this case, violates the 1991 Ethics Act."

Crangle's request cited The State's article that originally reported on the donation.

If the Ethics Commission acts on Crangle's request, the decision could affect more than Lexington County. State Republican Party spokeswoman Hope Walker said last month that the contribution was part of a larger program in which a donor gives money to the Republican Party and the party gives part of that contribution to the donor's preferred candidate.

She said the practice is legal and a tactic the party used in the gubernatorial campaigns of Catherine Templeton and Gov. Henry McMaster.

The tactic is less common at the local level, said Craig Caldwell, who chairs the Lexington County Republican Party.

This story was originally published June 29, 2018 at 5:29 PM.