ELECTIONS 2014: Vincent Sheheen releases ethics ad

Democratic candidate for governor Vincent Sheheen released his fifth campaign TV ad Thursday - the first criticizing Republican Gov. Nikki Haley on ethics.

Both Haley and Sheheen have made ethics a top issue.

Having emerged from her ethics incidents in 2012, Haley said she wanted to strengthen the state’s ethics laws, and named a commission that joined S.C. House and Senate panels in making proposals.

Sheheen’s ad, part of a six-figure statewide buy, begins with a Fox News segment announcing the state Ethics Commission had opened an inquiry into Haley's campaign finances.

Two years after that campaign ethics complaint was filed by former S.C. Democratic Party staff member Bridgett Tripp, who now works for Sheheen and another state senator, Haley was fined and issued a public warning for not reporting the addresses of eight donors during her 2010 campaign for governor.

In Sheheen's advertisement, his supporters from around the state say that Haley used the state plan to travel to political events and was forced to repay the taxpayers.

"Nikki Haley used an official state car to get to an out-of-state political fundraiser and then she didn't tell us when the car was wrecked," supporters said.

When riding in a state-issued SUV, Haley was involved in an one-vehicle accident in North Carolina in June 2013.

Haley’s name was listed on a N.C. State Highway Patrol report – along with two campaign aides and the driver, who was a SLED agent – as being in the vehicle.

SLED did not report the accident when it happened because it was minor, agency Chief Mark Keel said at the time.

Gov. Nikki Haley’s campaign did not have to repay the state for the cost of a State Law Enforcement Division security detail that accompanied her on the trip to North Carolina when the car was wrecked.

But the governor reimbursed the state for using state planes to attend press conferences and using state-owned cars during campaign events. She also took the unprecedented step of testifying at a House Ethics Committee hearing in 2012, called to look into charges that she used her position as a state representative for personal benefit. Haley was cleared of wrongdoing.

Haley's camp complained that Sheheen has his own ethics issues, including hearing cases before magistrates he and other lawmakers appointed and making money from suing the state. They also say he did not support some ethics reforms proposals.

"Vince Sheheen's hypocrisy when it comes to ethics reform knows no bounds,"Haley campaign spokeswoman Chaney Adams said. "Vince has proven to South Carolina, time and time again, that he is nothing more than a walking talking conflict of interest."

This story was originally published September 25, 2014 at 11:58 AM with the headline "ELECTIONS 2014: Vincent Sheheen releases ethics ad."