Your SC politics briefing
Welcome to your weekly South Carolina politics briefing, a newsletter curated by The State’s politics and government team.
In this week’s newsletter, we are featuring a months-long project from The State’s Sammy Fretwell’s on a dangerous deal that may have ended up making some South Carolina residents sick from hazardous chemicals in drinking water.
“It has leached into our drinking water and poisoned us,” Robert “Robbie” O’Neal III, a Darlington County farmer told Fretwell.
In the series, Toxic Deals, Fretwell reports on an agreement struck three decades ago when men from a local textile factory visited the O’Neal family farm with intentions to help them save money on fertilizing crops with the textile plants waste. The waste sludge contained nutrients that would allow the crop to flourish and at no cost to the family.
The O’Neals and other farmers took the deal, but when the government found hazardous chemicals in the area’s water supply in 2019, questions and concerns quickly arose surrounding the sludge and their friends and family members becoming sick. Now, they’re wondering why many of them today are angry and asking why the textile plant — with the blessing of state government officials — assured them the sludge was safe.
Come to find out, the sludge that was spread on thousands of acres of agricultural land in South Carolina as a way to get rid of the gooey refuse, often in the name of good farming practices, contains chemicals called PFAS. Commonly called forever chemicals, which over time have been tied to kidney, testicular and breast cancer, ulcerative colitis and thyroid problems
The residents of the area have suffered the consequences of the poison for years with little to no awareness while urgency was lacking to ensure families safety.
(Photo via The State’s Joshua Boucher)
Campaign cash race heats up
Check in: Here’s how GOP presidential hopefuls Tim Scott and Nikki Haley’s fundraising efforts compared to other Republican candidates.
Haley’s campaign for the nomination so far has received 160,000 contributions from across the country since kicking off her bid. The most contributions came from South Carolina, Florida and Texas. Scott received about 75,000 contributions from 53,000 unique donors from all 50 states since launching his bid in May, the campaign said.
Haley and her joint fundraising committees raised $8.3 million in her first six weeks on her campaign. Haley raised $7.3 million during the second quarter of the year. Scott brought in $6.1 million during the first six weeks of his bid for the Republican nomination for president. He ended the second quarter with $21 million in cash available to spend in the Republican primary.
Despite bringing in millions, Haley and Scott had smaller quarters than other Republican candidates seeking the White House. Former President Donald Trump brought in $35 million during the second quarter of the year even though he has legal issues including battling two indictments. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis brought in $20 million during the second quarter, which represented the first six weeks of his campaign.
2024 bites
▪ NY Post: Inside Nikki Haley’s quest to be America’s Iron Lady
▪ NY Times: Nikki Haley Makes Her Pitch in New Hampshire. It’s Unclear Whether Voters Will Swing.
▪ NY Times: DeSantis Confronts a Murdoch Empire No Longer Quite Supportive
▪ NBC News: Confidential DeSantis campaign memo looks to reassure donors amid stumbles
▪ Tampa Bay Times: DeSantis needs to win South Carolina. A MAGA wall stands in his way.
▪ Politico: The testosterone primary of 2024 is ‘getting out of hand’
▪ Politico: Why the Stop Trump effort all comes down to South Carolina
▪ The State: SC’s Haley touts taking down the Confederate flag, but how important was her role?
(The State newspaper file photo via Tim Dominick)
Buzz bites
▪ During President Joe Biden’s visit to West Columbia last week, he claimed that Columbia’s notorious malfunction junction, an interstate tangle, would be fixed. The State’s Caleb Bozard followed up to see how and when this would happen and reported that a total of $332.5 million in federal money has been allocated so far from Biden’s initiatives for improvements to the Interstate 26/20/126 corridor.
In May 2021, a news release from the transportation department stated 90% of the money for the project, officially known as the Carolina Crossroads, would come from the federal government, with the remaining money coming from the state, including the 2017 state gas tax increase. The Carolina Crossroads project is scheduled to be completed by 2029.
▪ Scout Motors’ planned $2 billion Blythewood facility could increase flooding in Black communities and cause more pollution, environmental advocates say.
▪ Former State Sen. Marlon Kimpson endorsed state Rep. Deon Tedder for his former seat in Senate District 42, and said “Proud to support @deon_tedder as the best candidate for Senate District 42. Looking forward to hitting the campaign trail with him soon. Best wishes brother Tedder,” via Twitter.
▪ The Lexington County GOP has censured the Lexigton-Richland 5 board chair over a lesson plan on racism at Chapin High School.
▪ Any DUI offender convicted of having a .08% blood alcohol level will be required to use an ignition interlock device to start their vehicle for a period of time, under an expansion of Emma’s Law.
▪ It is legal to eat while driving in South Carolina. For the most part. The list of specifically restricted “distractions” under current South Carolina law only includes cellphones, which can still be legally used hands-free. If a driver is eating while driving and a police officer sees, that officer lacks the probable cause to stop that driver in most cases unless the motorist is committing a traffic violation, such as speeding or infringing on multiple lanes.
▪ John Warren, a 2018 Republican candidate for governor who forced Gov. Henry McMaster into a runoff, has released a new book, “Lead Like A Marine.” Warren co-wrote the book with his Greenville business partner John Thompson.
“We wrote “Lead Like a Marine” to offer a different path – a path to leadership based on our time in the Marine Corps and in business,” Warren said in a statement. “Our book describes how the exceptionalism of the Marine Corps - composed of skills, integrity, and accomplishments - can bring meaning and merit to anyone’s life and help leaders succeed in building teams to accomplish big tasks.”
(The State file photo via Kevin Martin)
Mark your calendar
July 14
Haley, Scott, DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Vice President Mike Pence and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson participate in a BlazeTV forum hosted by Tucker Carlson.
July 17
DeSantis campaign stop in Tega Cay
July 20
Haley campaign stop in Greenville
Aug. 5
Trump headlines Silver Elephant Gala
Aug. 23
Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee
Oct. 31
Deadline to file for the S.C. GOP Presidential Primary
Nov. 1-10
Filing period for the S.C. Democratic Presidential Primary
Nov. 7
State Senate District 42 special election
Feb. 3, 2024
S.C. Democratic Party Presidential Primary
Feb. 24, 2024
S.C. GOP Presidential Primary
(Photo via The State’s Tracy Glantz)
Before we adjourn
Even though it’s the off season at the State House, Wednesday almost had a session-level of activity.
A battle over who could run crane operations at the Hugh Leatherman terminal at the port of Charleston came to the capitol grounds as several hundred union members of the International Longshoremen Association rallied outside of the building.
The speakers used at the rally were loud enough they could be heard inside of Gov. Henry McMaster’s office.
Union members are upset over the South Carolina Port Authority’s refusal to have union labor run the cranes at the new terminal as part of an ongoing dispute between the union and ports authority over whether a master agreement the longshoremen have with the United States Maritime Alliance applies in the Palmetto State, a right to work state.
“To allow the union to prevail on that effort at the port would be harmful for the port, a disaster for the state,” McMaster told reporters Wednesday as the longshoremen rally began. “They’re asking for something that I do not think people in the state are remotely interested in. We are booming, and it’s because of the way we do things.”
Ships won’t go into terminals not manned by the ILA, said Kenny Riley, the vice president of the International Longshoremen Association.
“It is foolish of (McMaster) to keep wanting to fight this issue,” Riley said. “Instead of finding a solution because as long as there’s a fight going on, guess what? That $1.5 billion terminal is going to be idle. Is that beneficial? Is that beneficial to the citizens of South Carolina?”
(Photo by The State’s Joseph Bustos)
Later Wednesday, McMaster presented the Order of the Palmetto , the state’s highest civilian honor, to General Lloyd “Fig” Newton at a heart-warming ceremony .
The state’s Order of the Palmetto was created to honor and recognize a native or resident South Carolinian’s lifetime of extraordinary achievement, service or contributions on a statewide level.
Newton was the first Black Thunderbird pilot in Air Force history. He flew over 260 combat missions during the Vietnam War.
(Photo courtesy of the governor’s office)
Pulling the newsletter together this week was Anna Wilder, reporter on The State’s politics and state government team. You can keep up with her and send her tips on Twitter at @anna_wilderr or by email awilder@thestate.com.
To stay on top of South Carolina politics and election news, you can chat with us on Facebook, email us tips and follow our stories at scpolitics.com.
This story was originally published July 13, 2023 at 10:04 PM.