SC Democratic Party said someone hijacked its logo to endorse school board candidates
The South Carolina Democratic Party said Thursday it had no role in mail sent to Richland County voters endorsing nonpartisan candidates.
The mailer, which bore the S.C. Democratic Party’s logo and mailing address, endorsed Angela Clyburn, Cheryl Harris and Raquel Thomas for the Richland 1 School Board. Clyburn and Thomas are running at-large and Harris is running for the school board’s District Four seat. All three candidates are running as nonpartisan candidates.
“The mail piece in question was not approved by any person in our political mail approval process,” S.C. Democratic Party Executive Director Jay Parmley said in a news release.
Parmley gives final approval to all mailers the group sends out and has asked the U.S. Postal Service to investigate who sent the mailer, the news release said.
The State has reached out to the U.S. Postal Service.
S.C. Democratic Party spokeswoman Lauren Brown said someone likely saw the party’s prior mailers and endorsed their own preferred candidates using the party’s logo and format.
“This isn’t a security breach,” Brown said.
Clyburn, who is the political director of the S.C. Democratic Party, said she knew nothing about the mailer before it was sent.
“I have no idea about the distribution or creation of the mailer,” Clyburn told The State.
Clyburn called the mailer “improper,” and said it is not party policy to endorse nonpartisan candidates.
Thomas said she was also unaware of the mailer.
“I was not aware of this mailer or that I would be endorsed,” Thomas said in a Facebook post. “I didn’t give permission because I was unaware of the mailer.”
Jonathan Milling, an incumbent candidate running against Thomas and Clyburn, said it was “obviously troubling,” especially considering how legitimate the mailer looks.
“Clearly, it looks like it came from the state Democratic Party,” Milling said.
Asked if the mailer could hurt his candidacy, Milling said, “I hope not. I hope people see through this.”