This week, Samuel Harms announced that he was running for Chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party. Harms is the former Chairman of the Greenville County Republican Party. In his announcement that he was running, Harms stated that when he was responsible for precinct reorganization, 1069 people came to the precinct meetings in Greenville County. It was the largest reorganization effort in the State that year, and the largest in Greenville County for approximately the past 20 years. At the county convention that he managed, there were 812 delegates. To put that in perspective, there are only 860 (whole) delegates at a State Party convention.
Also, before Harms became Chairman, the Greenville County Republican Party had gone about 120 years without running a full slate of candidates in the November general election. The last time the Party ran a full slate of candidates was during Reconstruction. During his tenure, the Party ran a full slate of candidates and every person in Greenville County had the opportunity to vote for the Republican nominee in November. Harms promised that over the next few weeks, he would have “a robust discussion of the issues facing the Party.”
Chad Connelly is the current Chairman of the SCGOP and he has announced that he is seeking reelection. Last year, over 100 Republican candidates were removed from the primary ballot while Connelly was Chairman due to paperwork filing errors. The election for Chairman will take place at the South Carolina Republican Party State Convention on Saturday, May 4, 2013.
