Forget the SC teacher march? New USC president? Political news that happened in 2019
From a massive teacher march that spread across the State House grounds, to the hiring of a new president at the University of South Carolina, to the 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls who campaigned across the state, 2019 was eventful in South Carolina.
Here are some of the top political news stories from around the state.
McMaster takes his oath
Gov. Henry McMaster was sworn into office for his first full term in January, becoming the state’s first governor to take an oath of office standing near his campaign running mate and second-in-command, S.C. Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette. Before 2018, the offices were elected separately.
He also became the first Columbia-area native to be elected governor in more than a century.
This wasn’t his first swearing-in ceremony.
McMaster took an oath in 2017, when then-Gov. Nikki Haley stepped down from the state’s top leadership role after she accepted the position of U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in President Donald Trump’s administration.
What’s next: McMaster’s 2022 re-election campaign has already started but it’s anyone’s guess right now whether he’ll face opposition. However, that hasn’t stopped names from being floated around, including Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin, a Democrat, and John Warren, a Greenville businessman who recently sold his company. Warren lost to McMaster during the 2018 GOP primary.
SC teacher march
Frustrated by state lawmakers’ inaction, more than 10,000 S.C. public school teachers and their supporters marched to the State House on May 1 demanding the Legislature improve their jobs and fix classroom working conditions.
It was the largest teacher rally in state history, organized by grassroots group SCforED — an organization created only a year before.
The march came amid a State House debate over legislation filed by House Speaker Jay Lucas, R-Darlington, seeking to improve the state’s K-12 schools system. However, teachers argued the bill lacked their input.
What’s next: While the full Senate is set to debate the education bill next month, SCforED has given state lawmakers a March 17 deadline to take their requests seriously and pass bills to fix their jobs. The group hasn’t said why they chose that date, but it is the day after filing opens to run for State House seats.
Budget changeup
When lawmakers returned to work in January, a new face was at the head of the state’s powerful Ways and Means Committee, which writes the Legislature’s first draft of the state budget.
In a State House twist, state Rep. Brian White, R-Anderson, was stripped from his position in December 2018 as House Ways and Means Committee chairman, having held that position since 2011. State Rep. Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, was responsible for overseeing the state’s budget for the first time.
What’s next: S.C. House and Senate chairmen will gavel in their respective members on Jan. 14, and all eyes will be focused on what the Legislature does with nearly $2 billion of new money. Meanwhile, Smith and other budget writers will be faced with colleagues’ demands to ensure more transparency is attached to the budget after The State exclusively reported that lawmakers for years have secretly funded tens of millions of dollars in pet projects through the budget.
A new president
Not that president.
The University of South Carolina board voted in July to hire retired Army Gen. Robert Caslen as the next president of South Carolina’s largest university despite opposition from students and college faculty and questions over whether the process was politically motivated.
Following Caslen’s hiring, the university’s accrediting body launched an inquiry into Caslen’s hiring. Ultimately, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools returned with its verdict: USC would not be punished but would continue to be monitored.
What’s next: Lawmakers are likely to consider legislation next year that would look at restructuring the university board.
Sir Purr goes to Columbia
The Carolina Panthers are coming to South Carolina.
Earlier this year, McMaster signed a bill offering the Panthers $115 million in state tax discounts to bring the Charlotte-based NFL football team’s operations and practice facilities across the North Carolina border and into Rock Hill.
The measure almost did not pass after freshman state Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Richland, blocked a vote on the deal for two months that eventually forced the state’s Commerce Department to release revenue projections of the team’s economic impact.
What’s next: Now out of the hands of the Legislature, the Panthers plan to have operations running by early 2022.
Benedict hosts Trump, 2020 hopefuls
Trump’s visit to Columbia’s Benedict College was a first for the president.
He was at the historically black school in October to talk about criminal justice reform and why he signed the First Step Act, which helped release low-level offenders. Hosted by the 20/20 Bipartisan Justice Center, Trump’s visit was part of a weekend to focus on criminal justice reform.
But the visit was not drama free.
Students protested the visit, arguing Trump was just trying to pander to black voters ahead of the 2020 presidential election in a state where black voters make up two-thirds of the S.C. Democratic Party voting bloc. And a handful of Democratic presidential candidates refused to participate in the event unless the original hosts were removed.
What’s next: All eyes are on South Carolina’s “First in the South” Democratic presidential primary on Feb. 29. There are 14 names on the state’s ballot out of 15 candidates running for the nomination. Missing from the list? Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Republicans see red
After a shocking midterm election upset, Democrat Joe Cunningham won South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District seat on the coast.
The win was huge for Democrats, but not so much Republicans, who had held the seat since the 1980s.
Though Cunningham has been in office only a year, he has bucked some of the Democratic norms in Congress. He has, however, found middle ground with Republicans and within his own party. He pushed legislation to permanently ban offshore drilling off the coastline and voted to impeach Trump.
What’s next: Republicans are looking to take back the seat, running ads directly tying Cunningham to Pelosi and impeachment. But the party still has to find its nominee. Currently, state Rep. Nancy Mace is ahead in fundraising of three GOP contenders.
Reporter Joseph Bustos contributed to this report.
This story was originally published December 29, 2019 at 5:01 AM.
