Ken Ard is now history. He was Lt. Governor of South Carolina and resigned before the end of his term due to ethics charges. As a candidate he appeared to be a good family and businessman and a fiscal conservative. Ard is on probation for 5 years, will pay a $5,000 fine and will do 300 hours of “community service.”
The State Grand Jury charged Ard with developing a scheme to create the impression that he was getting a lot of public support for his campaign, but the money was coming from his personal funds or from others not correctly reported. He spent money from the campaign fund illegally; apparently thinking it was legal because he had donated the money. His attorney said he could have written himself a reimbursement check for up to $25,000 from campaign funds, but spent the money on unauthorized purchases directly from the campaign fund in violation of the law.
The lesson here is: you don’t necessarily need to have evil intention to get in trouble with the government.
Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell will replace Ard as Lieutenant Governor. Senator Larry Martin from Pickens will replace McConnell as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. The Senate will select a replacement for McConnell as President Pro Tem of the Senate.
Mark Sanford was a fiscal conservative and a high-profile two-term governor of South Carolina and a potential presidential candidate. He had moral and ethical problems that marred his term in office.
There was also a young fiscally conservative business executive named Ravenell, from a politically prominent Charleston family, who was elected Treasurer of South Carolina and was forced to resign because of drug charges.
All three men were very successful as business executives and were thought to be just what South Carolina Government needed. They performed many of their duties well; however, something was lacking.
They were all qualified candidates who were elected as Republicans but did not measure up to the high standards prescribed by the State Republican Platform and laws. Across the state, and especially in Greenville County, Republicans at the grass roots are attempting to do a better job of influencing the selection of candidates who carry the Republican banner and urging those who are elected to conduct themselves in an honorable manner and support the Republican platform.
Republicans are handicapped by current state election laws that forbid rejecting anyone who is eligible according to state law and has the filing fee, from seeking office as a Republican. Additionally, current state election laws allow any registered voter to participate in the selection of Republican candidates by voting in Republican primaries. South Carolina does not require or permit registration by party. The only restriction is that individual voters may not vote in more than one party primary.
All candidates filing as Republicans in Greenville County beginning at noon on Friday, March 16th and ending at noon March 30 will be asked to complete a questionnaire indicating whether they agree with various parts of the State Republican Platform. If they disagree, the information may be made public and candidates are cautioned that votes cast in opposition to the party platform may be publicized and held against them during the next election cycle.
An effort is underway in the courts and in the state legislature to allow Republicans to select their own candidates without involvement of Democrats or third party individuals. Getting legislation passed has been difficult despite the fact that the majority of the State House and Senate are Republicans. The cold hard truth is that some of the Republicans are Republicans in name only. They vote with Democrats and need Democrat votes to get elected.
