Democrat James Smith drops plans to run for SC governor with smaller parties

Just days after the state’s Democratic nominee for governor filed for three other parties’ nominations, S.C. Rep. James Smith has withdrawn from seeking the nominations of the state’s Green, Libertarian and Working Families parties.

Despite the move, leaders of the S.C. Libertarian Party moved to formally reject Smith’s nomination, a move they think could put Smith’s position on the ballot in jeopardy.

Smith said in a statement that he and running mate Mandy Powers Norrell initially sought the nominations of the three smaller parties to serve all the people of South Carolina, “not just the members of one political party.”

“But after questions were raised about that on Friday, we decided to eliminate potential misunderstanding by withdrawing our names from consideration in connection with those other parties,” Smith said in a statement on Saturday.

At a meeting of the Libertarian Party’s executive committee in West Columbia on Saturday, party leaders voted to reject Smith’s nomination, even after the candidate withdrew his request on Friday. Libertarian Party chairman Stewart Flood said the party was unaware Smith would file for the nomination until Friday.

South Carolina allows candidates to run on a “fusion” ticket as the nominee of more than one political party. But under the state’s “sore loser” law, a candidate who is denied the nomination of one party can’t appear on the ballot under another party’s line.

Flood disputes that Smith is able to withdraw his request for the nomination after the initial March 30 filing deadline, and the party will move to decertify Smith as its nominee with the S.C. Election Commission.

“Whether they honor that as required by state law, we’re going to find out when they get the letter in a few days,” Flood said.

Party candidates file to run in March, and the state’s Republicans and Democrats held party primaries in June. But a fusion candidate can be certified by additional parties until an Aug. 15 deadline to set the November ballot.

This story was originally published August 4, 2018 at 5:14 PM.