Your SC politics briefing
Welcome to your weekly South Carolina politics briefing, a newsletter curated by The State’s politics and government team.
If this week wasn’t clear enough, we’ve entered crossover, which is the legislative deadline for one chamber to get legislation across the State House to the other chamber. If bills can’t get across in time, the vote threshold is much higher.
That’s why, this week in particular, lawmakers passed a flurry of bills that stretched from school choice legislation to a bill that deals with ice cream and popsicles and other food products that include alcohol as an ingredient. The bills weren’t just coming out of each chamber. Committees advanced a handful of controversial bills dealing with abortion, the teachings of so-called critical race theory and transgender women in sports.
The latter will be debated by the full SC House this coming week after the Rules Committee, and likely the House will to, agreed to put the bill on special order. The legislation was rejected twice last year in committee but found new life in the House Education and Public Works Committee this year.
Legislation that includes elections, medical marijuana and whether to split up DHEC are all safe from crossover because lawmakers passed those bills way ahead of the crossover deadline.
In the background of all of this of course is the June 14 primary.
A handful of incumbents — Democrats and Republicans — face challengers.
There will be more than a dozen newcomers to the House in 2023. Thirteen House members will not seek reelection this year.
(Photo via Associated Press’ Jeffrey Collins)
Lawmakers dig into USC board trustees
Five longtime members of the University of South Carolina board of trustees could be in danger of losing their influential seats after a panel of state lawmakers refused to advance the candidacies to the General Assembly for a vote.
The refusal came after lawmakers grilled the five current board members about the hiring of former President Bob Caslen, the search for his replacement, the multi-million dollar buyouts of former football coach Will Muschamp and former men’s basketball coach Frank Martin, and other issues.
On Tuesday, the joint legislative panel advanced the candidacies of all six newcomers and incumbent Alex English, who was reelected to the board last May.
But they agreed to sit on the candidacies of five unopposed incumbents — Eddie Floyd, John von Lehe, Chairman Dorn Smith, Thad Westbrook and Charles Williams — declining to send them to a final reelection vote by the Legislature, scheduled for May 4.
(Photo by AP’s Jeffrey Collins)
SC Black women aiming to change history
In its more than 200 years of existence, South Carolina has never elected a Black woman to statewide office.
Not governor or lieutenant governor. Not secretary of state or superintendent of education. Not treasurer or attorney general, or commissioner of agriculture or comptroller general. And not one Black woman from South Carolina has ever been elected to the US Senate.
Most are Democrats who are running in 2022. One is a Republican. Another is running as a Green Party candidate. All are trying to change history.
But winning will not come easy. Because no Black woman has ever won a race for statewide office in South Carolina, state Sen. Mia McLeod and two other candidates interviewed for this story said they are building a campaign strategy largely from scratch.
Black women are trying to make SC political history in 2022. Why are they struggling? Read more here.
ICYMI: SC Democrats vie for gubernatorial nomination. Here’s where McLeod, Cunningham race stands. Click here
Buzz Bites
▪ The mayor of South Carolina’s largest city may have just drawn his first challenger for a political contest that is still more than a year away. State Rep. William Cogswell, R-Charleston, told The State that he is “certainly considering” a run for mayor.
▪ A few Republican state superintendent of education candidates don’t meet qualifications in South Carolina that states candidates must have a master’s degree, the Charleston Post and Courier reports.
▪ Greenwood County Councilwoman Edith Childs, who found fame with her “Fired up, ready to go!” chant in Barack Obama’s first president run will not seek reelection. Reporter Chris Trainor tweeted that Childs’ has been a councilwoman for almost three decades.
▪ President Joe Biden’s appointments to the board of advisors on historically Black colleges and universities includes South Carolina native Patrick Cokley, who now lives in New Jersey. Cokley is the chief of organizing advocacy and learning at Civic Influencers.
▪ US Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said he will not vote for Judge Kentanji Brown Jackson to serve on the Supreme Court, denying President Joe Biden of another Republican vote for his historic nominee who will likely be confirmed as the first Black woman to serve on the nation’s highest court.
▪ US Rep. Nancy Mace will face a pair of Republican primary challengers who are both casting themselves as conservative, pro-Trump candidates, setting up an intraparty contest that will test how much sway Donald Trump still has over the GOP voter base — and if its enough to oust an incumbent here again.
▪ A lawyer for one South Carolina man said that his client will plead guilty to charges connected to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. And another alleged rioter, a cadet at The Citadel, will get another two months to decide whether to plead. By then, he will have finished his sophomore year at the state military college.
▪ The South Carolina Senate gave key approval to a bill that would allow some poorer or disabled students taxpayer money to attend a private school or a public school outside their district, the Associated Press reports.
▪ Mick Mulvaney, a former South Carolina congressman and once a top aide to former President Donald Trump, is working as a contributor for CBS News. The Washington Post reported that an obtained audio recording showed CBS News co-president telling staff that CBS needed to hire more Republicans for “access” reasons because Republicans would likely win midterms.
▪ Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney is fundraising for US Rep. Tom Rice as both look to win reelection, The Sun News reports.
▪ Mike Reichenbach was the overwhelming winner of a special election to fill the seat in Florence and Darlington counties left open when state Sen. Hugh Leatherman died last year. He’ll be sworn in Tuesday.
▪ David Beasley had a difficult job feeding some of the world’s most desperate people before the invasion of Ukraine. Now the former SC governor and director of UN World Food Programme has an even bigger problem feeding millions of people displaced by the Russian-led war in Eastern Europe, and the potential disruption to the world food supply from fighting in a major agricultural exporter.
Mark your calendar
April 4
SC House 3M Committee holds hearing on S. 150, the medical marijuana bill at 10 a.m.
US Senate Judiciary Committee holds vote on Biden’s Supreme Court nominee
April 5
SC House Legislative Ethics Committee meets at 10 a.m.
SC Senate Judiciary panel meets to discuss bills on “free-range parenting,” HOA and flags, 10 a.m.
SC House starts session at noon, Senate starts session at 2 p.m.
April 6
SC Senate Judiciary panel meets at 11 a.m. to discuss House elections bill
April 7
SC Senate panel meets at 9 a.m. to discuss the confirmation of Eden Hendrick to lead DJJ
*The legislative crossover deadline hits during the weekend, but most likely wraps up Thursday
June 14
Statewide primaries
Before we adjourn
In October 2015, Columbia was hit by a “thousand year flood” that devastated entire neighborhoods.
Nearly seven years later, several homeowners in the Columbia area have never recovered.
After the flood, the city of Columbia received millions of federal dollars to help low-income homeowners repair their properties. To date only 21 people have been helped, and dozens more are still waiting.
The State’s Rebecca Liebson took a closer look into the city’s flood relief program, examining more than three years of internal documents. The records revealed several missteps on the part of the city and a private contractor in charge of the program.
This ultimately led to long delays for homeowners seeking help, and forced the city to spend local tax dollars to correct mistakes. Some residents waited up to four years only to be told they wouldn’t have their homes repaired after all.
One city official said it will likely take until 2024 to complete all the home repairs.
Who pulled together this week’s newsletter?
This week it was Maayan Schechter (My-yahn Schek-ter), senior editor of the The State’s politics and state government team. You can keep up with her on Twitter and send her tips on Twitter at @MaayanSchechter or by email mschechter@thestate.com.
Make sure to sign up for our weekly politics newsletter that will come straight to your inbox every Friday morning. Tell your friends to do the same. For even more South Carolina-focused political news, you can chat with us on Facebook at the Buzz on South Carolina Politics, email us tips at thebuzz [at] thestate [dot] com and follow our stories at scpolitics.com.
This story was originally published April 1, 2022 at 7:33 AM.
