SC Senate hopeful with law enforcement role resigns as volunteer game warden. Here’s why
A candidate for the South Carolina Senate who has touted his 20 years of law enforcement service in his campaign resigned last month as a volunteer game warden after he learned of a department policy that requires employees to step down if they seek partisan offices.
Mike Reichenbach, who is running in a special election to fill the unexpired term of the seat formerly held by the late Senate Finance Committee Chairman Hugh Leatherman, resigned from his volunteer position at the Department of Natural Resources on Dec. 30.
The day prior, DNR told Reichenbach department policy states that full-time officers have to resign if they want to run for a partisan office. However, the rule doesn’t apply to volunteer officers. The department also flagged Reichenbach of another potential issue after he wore his work uniform in the ad.
Reichenbach opted to resign from the position he has held since 2018.
“As my employee game warden brothers and sisters are held to aforementioned DNR policy, I have elected to hold myself to the same standard.” Reichenbach wrote in his resignation letter, provided by his campaign to The State.
Reichenbach is seeking the Republican nomination to succeed Leatherman, who died in November. He’s running against state House Ethics Committee Chairman Jay Jordan, R-Florence in the Jan. 25 primary.
Suzanne La Rochelle is the only Democrat in the race.
Reichenbach has touted his 20 years of law enforcement background in the short months since launching this campaign, the most recent in a Dec. 27 television ad and in his campaign launch video.
The campaign also said even though Reichenbach is no longer a volunteer game warden, he would fight against reducing the amount of money to pay for law enforcement.
“Once a law enforcement officer, always a law enforcement officer,” said Phillip Habib, Reichenbach’s campaign manager. “Only political insiders desperate to hold on to power and keep the status quo in Columbia would attempt to diminish the service of a respected, 20-year volunteer law enforcement officer.”
Reichenbach also has since changed a campaign videos, which noted his role as volunteer law enforcement officer.
DNR said a version of the Dec. 27 ad, which ran for two days, included a clip of Reichenbach in his DNR uniform. However, Reichenbach tweaked the ad and aired the second version before DNR flagged him of agency policy that prohibits wardens from wearing their uniforms for work outside of game warden duties.
The alternate version, without the uniform, started airing before DNR spoke to Reichenbach. A post on Facebook, which has since been taken down, also included a picture of him in his DNR uniform.
Spokesman David Lucas said DNR did not ask Reichenbach to resign.
“We didn’t take any disciplinary action or ask him to resign. He did that voluntarily,” Lucas said.
