Developer considering Trump-like run for SC governor

South Carolina might have a candidate for governor in 2018 who follows the Donald Trump model of running for office.

Bill Stern, a Columbia real estate developer who is backing Trump for the White House, told The Buzz that he is considering a bid as a self-funded, political outsider.

Stern has spent 14 years on the State Ports Authority – a driver of S.C. economic development – and says he wants state government run more like a business. The Republican said he sees the governor as the chairman of the board, legislators as the board of directors and South Carolinians as the shareholders.

“We have to answer to the shareholders,” Stern said. “There’s lot of fraud, waste and abuse going on. All agencies need to be looked at from top to bottom. You need to hold the people in charge of those agencies accountable. We need to see results. That’s what the people want. They’re thirsty for that.”

Stern, a major GOP donor, surprised many in S.C. Republican circles by backing Trump, the anti-establishment candidate, for president. Stern had taken part in the presidential campaigns of establishment stalwarts George W. Bush, John McCain and Lindsey Graham.

Before Trump’s February S.C. primary victory, the 59-year-old Stern predicted the New York billionaire’s candidacy would inspire other business leaders to seek office. Now, Stern could be taking his own advice.

Stern attended several Trump rallies across South Carolina where, he said, “I saw a real sense of frustration.”

Stern said he will run only if another candidate capable of bringing a different perspective to the State House fails to step forward. Republican Gov. Nikki Haley is term-limited and cannot run again.

Other possible GOP candidates for governor in 2016 have experience in political office, including Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster, U.S. Rep. Mick Mulvaney and S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson, the son of a congressman. House Speaker President Pro Tempore Tommy Pope and former Lt. Gov. Yancey McGill, another pair of Republicans, already have announced they plan to run.

Ed McMullen, Trump's S.C. chairman, said Stern could capture some of the GOP presidential front-runner’s momentum in the Palmetto State, which Trump won by double digits.

“We have to have a governor who understands that we are in a time when the game has to change,” McMullen said. “This is one of those game-changing elections.”

McMullen and longtime S.C. political consultant Richard Quinn are advising Stern.

“He’s not interested in the path of a career politician,” said Quinn, who would not rule out working on Stern’s campaign if he runs.

Like Trump, Stern would face scrutiny about some of his business dealings during the campaign.

Last year, a Legislative Audit Council report questioned the $4.5 million profit that Stern earned from selling a 10-acre parcel at the State Farmers Market in Lexington County. Stern says he made improvements to the site that boosted its value before selling the property to the state.

Stern said he is ready to spend the $4 million to $6 million that he has been told is needed to run for governor. He said he does not see being governor as a stepping stone to higher elected office and would consider serving only a single four-year term.

“As Trump has said, he wanted to something back. He feels he’s a successful business person, and he didn’t want to be beholden to the lobbyists or special interests,” Stern said. “That’s a great model for business people. If your state has been good to you – and, God knows, this state has been good to me and and my family – you should consider giving back if you feel you can make a difference.”

The last GOP civil war

The last time Republicans faced a contested presidential convention was in 1976, John Courson was a 31-year-old delegate supporting Ronald Reagan as the Californian tried to oust President Gerald Ford.

“It was one of the most electric three days I spent in politics,” said the state senator from Richland County, looking at his 1976 delegate pin and pass in his State House office. “There were actually floor fights at the convention. You had pushing. You had screaming. People were booing.”

The possibility of another contested presidential convention in July has stirred the memories of the S.C. Republicans who traveled to Kansas City 40 years ago, the last time the GOP front-runner arrived at the convention without the support of a majority of delegates.

Reagan, a one-time actor and former two-term California governor, had a chance to win in Kansas City because voters were in a sour mood similar to this year’s anger that made Trump the GOP front-runner.

“The country was out of sorts and disgusted with politics,” said Rusty DePass, who backed Reagan as a South Carolina delegate at the ’76 convention. “The party elite was opposed to Reagan as they are opposed to Trump now.”

But Reagan miffed some delegates by saying he planned to name U.S. Sen. Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania, a moderate, as his running mate.

“That backfired,” DePass said.

Sherry Martschink, a former legislator, said she was uncommitted heading to the convention, though her name was listed among Reagan supporters.

Reagan backers said the Ford campaign used the trappings of the White House to woo delegates.

Courson said he turned down an invitation to the White House. Martschink said she attended a state dinner for the king and queen of Spain before the convention.

“I’m sure Gerald Ford did not know who I was from Adam’s house cat,” she said. “It never occurred to me that I was invited to the state dinner for voting reasons.”

Martschink voted for Ford, who entered the convention with the delegate lead. “I thought we should not turn our back on an incumbent president.”

However, as Martschink gave a speech seconding Ford’s nomination, some S.C. delegates walked off the arena floor. “There were a lot of strong feelings.”

Reagan received the most votes from S.C. delegates, 27-9, but Ford won the nomination on the first ballot. Subsequently, he lost the November general election to Democrat Jimmy Carter.

This year, Trump leads in the delegate count, but U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has been gaining delegates in state conventions, including in South Carolina. As with many states, South Carolina’s GOP delegates must vote on the first ballot for the candidate – Trump – who won the state’s primary. But they can switch to another candidate on subsequent ballots if no one has wrapped up the nomination.

S.C. Republican delegates heading to a contested convention in Cleveland this summer should stand their ground, Martschink advised: “Don’t let the pressure get to you, and do what you think is right.”

Buzz Bites

▪  The S.C. Secessionist Party plans to move its weekly Sunday protests from Charleston’s Battery to The Citadel if U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-Columbia, is successful in having the Confederate flag removed from that college’s Summerall Chapel, party founder James Bessenger said. The party plans to hold a Confederate flag-raising ceremony at the S.C. State House on July 10, the first anniversary of the Civil War banner’s removal from the grounds. Bessenger said he mailed more than 130 invitations last week to the ceremony, including to Gov. Nikki Haley and state lawmakers, who voted to banish the flag after Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church slayings.

▪  Haley will headline state Rep. Chip Huggins’ “Taste of Chapin and Irmo” campaign fundraiser on May 23. The Republicans were fellow House members, representing Lexington County, before Haley was elected governor in 2010. Huggins, an eight-term incumbent, has a GOP primary challenger, homebuilder Bryan Clifton.

▪  The political-action committee that supported U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s presidential run is spending some of its remaining $295,000 to keep the Senate in GOP hands. The Security is Strength PAC released a TV ad last week in New Hampshire supporting U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, an ally of the Seneca Republican. Ayotte faces a stiff general election challenge from Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan.

This story was originally published April 30, 2016 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Developer considering Trump-like run for SC governor."