If the House concurs with a Senate-passed bill, it will be now be up to South Carolina voters to decide if the governor can choose a running mate. The Senate passed an amended bill H.3152, which merges the election of governor and lieutenant governor on the same ticket. If the House, then voters approve this version the change would take place in the 2018 election.
Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler says, “It’s a bill whose time has come. The compromise was that it would take place in 2018, that was a concern with some people about how it would affect our current governor and our current lieutenant governor.”
The current governor, Nikki Haley, is not pleased with how it now affects her. She fired off on Facebook:
Sen. Vincent Sheheen (D-Kershaw), who lost to Haley in the past gubernatorial election, said this constitutional change is much better for South Carolina.
“If I can change my mind and think that this is the right way to go, then there is no reason that others who have not supported this in the past can’t also reflect on this and assess and move forward,” Sheheen told fellow senators today.”
Senate Democrats were pushing for more sweeping changes, however, as Sen. Brad Hutto (D-Orangeburg) tried amend the measure to include the Secretary of Education.
His amendments were ruled out-of-order because they altered the intention of the original bill.
“It’s the twenty-first century. The Republicans’ grip on the status quo is keeping South Carolina’s government stuck in the nineteenth century, ” said Hutto.
