Both the South Carolina GOP and the SC Democratic Party have released the names of candidates who will be recertified following state Supreme Court ruling Wednesday.
However, more than 180 statewide and local candidates (87 Republicans and 95 Democrats) did not submit their statement of economic interest properly by March 30. These candidates will not be allowed to appear on their party’s ballot on June 12.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Larry Martin has called for an emergency meeting Tuesday to discuss possible solutions. Martin said Friday that he’s looking at a proposal which would allow challengers to follow the same rules as incumbents (who have an April 15 filing deadline).
“A lot of these candidates had no idea of the rules,” Martin said, “They’re not lawyers. They’re not professional campaign folks. They’re just good, ordinary people that were either misled or given poor information about what they needed to do.”
Martin’s own primary challenger, Rex Rice, was one of those who filed improperly. Rice told The State newspaper that the State Ethics Commission’s website led him to believe April 15 was the deadline for all candidates, rather than March 30. He said he filed the statement on April 9.
