MAY 28, 2010 -- Gubernatorial candidate state Rep. Nikki Haley (R-Lexington) continues to confound and amaze.

Written off by many at the beginning of the political season as a marginal candidate riding the increasingly shortened coattails of Gov. Mark Sanford, Haley has surged into the lead in the campaign to win the GOP primary, which will be held in 11 days.

Last week, Haley’s campaign shocked the state’s political world when polls showed she leap-frogged the two presumed frontrunners, Attorney General Henry McMaster and Congressman Gresham Barrett, and opened up a nearly 10-percentage point lead.

This week, despite a growing web of intrigue surrounding her personal life, she has extended that lead, according to a new InsiderAdvantage/Statehouse Report poll of more than 1,100 voters.

After Haley surged into the lead last week, a former Sanford spokesperson, Will Folks, who now runs one of the state’s most popular political blogs, voluntarily confirmed rumors that he and the married candidate had an “inappropriate physical relationship” in recent years.

Instead of immediately damaging her candidacy, Haley’s lead held, according to the InsiderAdvantage/Statehouse Report poll taken Tuesday night after the affair allegations made headlines Tuesday morning.

According to the poll, 31.3 percent of voters who said they would vote in the GOP primary said they would vote for Haley if the election were held today. By contrast, McMaster, who had been leading until this month, flip-flopped with Haley, sinking to fourth and 13.8 percent.

The other big surprise in the governor’s race was Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, whose campaign has been marred by the “poor people = stray dogs” controversy, rising in the poll to second place at 20.7 percent. Barrett was nestled in third at 14.1 percent.

In the Democratic race, state Sen. Vincent Sheheen of Kershaw garnered 26.3 percent, followed by state Superintendent of Education Jim Rex at 17.2 percent. State Sen. Robert Ford of Charleston was in last at 12.4 percent. It could be argued that “nobody” is well in the lead in this primary race as 44.2 percent of those who said they would vote in the Democratic primary responded that didn’t know who they’d vote for.

Independents may force outcome

Hopes of getting out early this year were dashed by the dragging budget battle with the bill planted in conference committee. The conference committee finished with the bill late Thursday, so it could hit the floor next week. The legislature is set to go out of session by next Thursday, but will likely return in mid-June to deal with gubernatorial vetoes.

Also next Thursday before everyone gets out of town, the full LCI committee will meet at 9 a.m. in 308 Gressette to hear a report from the interim director of the state Department of Employment and Workforce. More.

Next week will pose a time crunch on three major bills other than the budget:

• Voter ID: The bill requiring voters to present photo identification still sits in conference committee.
  
  
• Sentencing reform. The House has passed its version back to the Senate with a few amendments. It will be debated and completed next week.
  
  
• Spending caps. The House passed its version this week, and sent it back to the Senate with amendments.

Folks was not married at the time of the alleged relationship, but Haley was.  Haley, who picked up a huge endorsement from former Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin (and subsequently made a big media buy), denied the claim, saying it was well-timed political skullduggery.

The GOP primary was little more than two weeks out when Folks first claimed that he was forced by whispers to come forward with a statement about the contact. That Folks’ admission came out on the heels of news that Haley had vaulted into the lead for the GOP nomination -- from fourth place in the polls --  had some wondering if the claim was legitimate or just regular nasty political gamesmanship.   (In a related noted, Haley outpolled the other GOP gubernatorial candidates in a poll commissioned by Statehouse Report AFTER the alleged affair became public knowledge.)

Folks has said he has proof of the relationship and has released a series of electronic communications between him, the Haley staff and Senate staffer Wes Donehue. None of what has been released could be considered a smoking gun, but there appears to be a lot of smoke. Some have questioned Folks’ reliability and checkered past. Perhaps the most interesting photo on his blog this week was a framed and signed pic of Folks arm in arm with both Haley and Sanford (http://www.fitsnews.com/2010/05/25/memories-of-the-way-they-were-2/).

One influential denizen of the House said that the scandal will make or break Haley, as if she survives, she will become impenetrable to criticism, “and all she’ll have to say is, There you go again, attacking me …”

With the current superintendent, Democrat Jim Rex, running for governor, the winner of this open seat will be in charge of managing more than $2 billion in state education funding – about 40 percent of South Carolina’s general fund budget.

In the Democratic primary, we endorse Frank Holleman, a Greenville attorney who has served as deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education under former Gov. Dick Riley. Holleman has a proven record in fighting to improve students’ education experiences and prepare them for the 21^st century.

He also opposes the notion outlined in a recent state court case that says the state only has the responsibility to provide a “minimally adequate” education.   That regressive notion, he says, “is not adequate in any sense for our students today. We must aim for quality and excellence.” Holleman also is a fierce opponent of using private school tax credits to drain public money away from public education. “Vouchers and tax credits are fiscally irresponsible and would create new state entitlements and special tax exemptions, when budgets are being cut and when we are working to eliminate special tax provisions. We should not take money from the classroom for vouchers.”

Another voucher opponent is Republican Brent Nelsen, a Furman University professor who we endorse in the GOP primary for state superintendent. Like Holleman, he seems to cringe about the notion of “minimally adequate schools” because “providing a quality workforce for globally competitive industries requires a world-class education system,” he says. “Nothing short of world-class education in South Carolina will do.” Nelsen also opposes vouchers, but would consider a tax credit for businesses to give to a non-profit for scholarships.

In the race for state attorney general, Columbia lawyer Leighton Lord stands out for his vital management experience. The lead lawyer for bringing Boeing’s billion-dollar investment into the state, he has run a major law firm and knows how to oversee the needs of a multimillion dollar operation like the attorney general’s office. 

Lord’s opponents tout their experience in the courtroom, but it’s rare for the state’s chief prosecutor to get before a judge or jury often.  The attorney general’s role is, rather, to pull together the disparate roles of police, prosecutors and other legal entities as a team to fight crime and improve safety. Lord has the pragmatic credentials to get things done and make our state safer without simply locking up more prisoners and throwing away the keys.

The state’s next state treasurer should be Republican Converse Chellis, the incumbent who will face no Democratic opposition in the fall. Elected by the legislature in 2007 to fill the role vacated after Republican Thomas Ravenel’s conviction on drug charges, Chellis has served as an integral member of the state Budget and Control board to block some overzealous proposals. 

He’s onto something in reshaping some government functions into a Department of Administration without zapping the Board:   “The active process of managing the State’s finances, and particularly the Board’s oversight and recognition of revenue collections, along with its duty to take immediate action whenever those revenues do not materialize, is a cornerstone to the State’s high credit ratings,” he told Statehouse Report. “Accordingly, completely abolishing the Board could have negative consequences on the ratings.”

Neither of the GOP candidates for comptroller general believes in keeping the Budget and Control Board. That’s a short-sighted view when recalling the tough fiscal realities of the past few years. Without the budget board to chill the slashing fervor of Gov. Mark Sanford to demolish state government, hardworking South Carolinians might not find the help they need in dozens of areas. In the GOP primary for comptroller general, we can offer no endorsement.

To review surveys filled out by each of the candidates in statewide contested primaries, check out the candidate list and links in the right column.

Disclosure: Brack made a $250 campaign donation early this year to Holleman when it appeared he would not have a primary opponent. In hindsight, it would have been better to wait. 

5/21:  McMaster, Sheheen, Kitzman endorsed

5/14:  Advice for new college grads

5/7:   SC should pass on offshore drilling

MAY 28, 2010 -- The Senate put on a sad spectacle for taxpayers on Tuesday, May 11. They called it “Roll Call Day,” during which they deliberately made unnecessary motions and then demanded recorded votes. They spent hours trying to prove that their constituents’ concerns are silly, and that transparency is a “fad.” It was a political stunt, and an insult to the thousands of South Carolina citizens who are demanding to know how their elected representatives are voting.

In 2008, the Policy Council released a report showing lawmakers passed laws with recorded votes just 5 percent of the time, and that South Carolina had among the weakest legislative voting requirements in the nation. Lawmakers eroded their credibility further when they passed rules in 2009 to “fix the problem,” then continued to vote off the record 75 percent of the time. 

The rules didn’t make the legislature accountable then, and won’t now. Citizens shouldn’t have to rely on legislative leaders to craft rules that ultimately allow them to choose which votes they record. The public is rightly convinced that legislators cannot be trusted to record their votes unless they are forced to by law. Only state law will ensure that all votes are recorded in real time and in full public view.

That seems obvious, but Senate leaders still insist that they are the ones who should decide when to vote openly. They even claim it would be unconstitutional to require it any other way.  A constitutional law professor at Charleston School of Law disagrees, and presents a reasoned case as to why such a law would certainly be constitutional.  He challenges senators’ claim that they have the sole authority to govern their procedures, and points out that state law already governs some legislative procedures.  

Even if it didn’t, it seems clear the constitution does not grant each legislative body the sole authority to govern the direct relationship between citizens and their elected officials. 

The public has had enough. No one believes the existing process works. Yet Sen. Larry Martin (R-Pickens), whose subcommittee killed the roll call bill, wrote an article trotting out the tired political strategy we’ve seen for two years: attack supporters of transparency, contrive reasons not to pass a law, and offer convoluted arguments as to why we don’t really need it.   

Those arguments are absurd. Another legislative rule won’t provide accountability, but will only create different loopholes that pose no obstacle to Senate leaders who have been in office for decades and are masters at manipulation. Senator Martin makes long-winding arguments about how senators can stop a bad bill if they try hard and get enough of their colleagues to help.  None of that matters in practice because lawmakers always find ways to pass controversial legislation without recorded votes. Just recently senators voted on a bill to create a new agency that can do pretty much anything in the name of “economic development,” including acquire property, hire consultants and enter into contracts. Officials of the agency would be accountable to a few legislators. Such government expansion should have received open debate and a recorded vote. Instead, it passed on a voice vote. 

Dangerous and costly legislation frequently breezes through the Statehouse unchecked, and will keep doing so absent a state law. One such bill finally passed the House, but was stomped by three senators in subcommittee. South Carolinians deserve a strong legislative transparency law—not another rule that lawmakers can manipulate, and a continued miserable track record for on-the-record voting.  

Ashley Landess is president of the South Carolina Policy Council, one of many underwriters of Statehouse Report.

5/21:  Dicks: Residential fire sprinklers save lives

5/14:  Zia:  Voter ID bill is boondoggle

4/30: Polito: Confront nicotine addiction

-- Dan Ellington, Mauldin, SC

PS: Ms. Kitzman is proud of your endorsement. Unfortunately, I just crossed her name off my “vote for” list. Either she is not paying attention or actually agrees with you. Either one is a deal breaker.

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Economy. Home sales statewide in April were up nearly 11 percent compared to the previous month and up nearly 37 percent over the same time the year before.  More. Meanwhile, the state’s high unemployment rate dropped for the third straight month to 11.6 percent. More.

Abortion. A potentially abusive bill that would require a woman to wait 24 hours before having an abortion after seeing an ultrasound may die in committee before the legislative session ends. On the other hand, the issue won’t go away, as abortion language was a big sticking point in the budget conference committee and abortion foes in the House and Senate will be emboldened by their success this year, will bring it up next year.