State lawmakers get ‘blackmailed’ for misconduct, former Lexington senator says
A former Republican state senator who was ousted by a primary challenger after she was part of a group of female senators who blocked a total abortion ban, says lawmakers have been ”blackmailed” over their personal transgressions.
Katrina Shealy, a Lexington County Republican, posted in her online blog, which she started after she lost reelection, that improprieties by lawmakers has led to them being blackmailed into changing their vote on issues.
“A “NAY” vote will quickly become “AYE” when a member is threatened with the revelation that he or she did something (or someONE) he or she shouldn’t have,” Shealy wrote in the post that published Tuesday.
Shealy declined to name specific lawmakers Thursday when reached via a phone call.
Shealy’s post, titled “Politics Under the Dome (and sheets),” comes days after the wife of state Sen. Matt Leber, R-Charleston, publicly accused the first-term senator of having an affair with political operative Rebecca Madsen.
Leber’s wife, Michele, has since listed she is separated on her Facebook profile.
In her post, Shealy also took to task some South Carolina attendees she saw at a conference in Nashville in 2021.
“I was walking through the hotel lobby, I saw a group of female attendees from South Carolina. They were dressed out like the fleet was in and they were behind on their rent,” Shealy writes. “These were some of the same ‘ladies’ that professed moral righteousness during the abortion debate in the House. When I suggested their appearance didn’t reflect well on South Carolina, I was vilified, mocked and labeled as judgmental.”
Shealy was part of a group of five “Sister Senators” who stood together to block a total abortion ban in 2023. The General Assembly eventually adopted a six-week abortion ban. Shealy in 2024, along with two other Republican female senators, lost their seats to primary challengers.
Shealy said has seen her colleagues make “unfortunate choices” when she was in the Senate.
“Some who cheated on their families with staff members and lobbyists while others prioritized getting re-elected over what was best for the state,” Shealy wrote. “I didn’t serve to make friends; I served to do a job. I tried to talk to some of these people, but it usually ended with me losing their friendship.”
