Dirty Politics in Lexington County Senate Runoff Races

(Lexington, S.C) June 22, 2024 - The Lexington County Republican Party (LCRP) Chairman Mark Weber released this opinion several days before the runoff elections for the three SC Senate races that will be decided on Tuesday, June 25th, 2024:

It is tragic to see the levels to which some people will stoop in an attempt to garner last minute votes for election to public office. Where have all our true “public servants” gone?

A mailer I received Friday regarding the Senate 10 race from an entity who calls itself “Fair Chance LLC” is a textbook dirty hit piece. This piece was supporting Mr. Bumgardner. When I reached out to him, he stated that he had hoped these types of things would not be coming out, has kept his campaign positive, and was not aware of it prior.

What is particularly alarming is the involvement of a Delaware realtor with banking ties in Mt. Pleasant. The content of the mailer is factually incorrect, and a complete twisting of Mr. Garrett’s record. It is the typical “October Surprise” attempt that was common years ago during the time of Lexington’s own Lee Atwater.

This last-minute attempt to fool voters is frankly reprehensible. Their false claim that “Restaurants are Closing” due to a single Senator is an outright LIE. Senator Garrett actually worked to assist with the insurance rate increases plaguing the restaurant industry. But unfortunately, the casual voter may be fooled by this slimy piece of mail.

This isn’t the only slimy hit piece out there. The disgraced former Chairperson of the Lexington County Republican Party, Ms. Godwin, apparently did a hit piece on another Senate hopeful, Mr. Smith, in Senate 26. This mailer, apparently by her disgraced group parading as “The Original Lexington County Republican Party,” had her return P.O. Box on it. She and a handful of folks that were removed by either the State GOP or the local County Party the past year for violating our rules are the “clown show” that you may have seen in front of a local Lexington business, or at the state party meeting and convention.

Unfortunately, candidate Mr. Guerry is using Godwin’s group in his desperate attempt to soil the good name of his Senatorial opponent, as he followed up with a late night mailbox delivery of hit pieces. When I reached out to him, he was defensive and combatant in his reply. He wanted to change the topic of the dirty piece and started inferring I was being inappropriate for calling him out. This revelation brings into question the integrity of his campaign, and his commitment to local constituents.

His opponent, Mr. Smith, despite filing late, has published his ethics spreadsheets, which reveal nothing explosive. Mr. Guerry failed to ask for a status update from Senate Ethics’ J.J. Gentry, but rather just went ahead and seemingly paid for a hit piece to come out under the name of said disgraced group, led by a woman with a history of deceitful actions and outrageous behavior. Her dishonorable behavior apparently runs in the family, as her husband continues to accost our Republican Party members in public, and was arrested for assaulting a Party member two years ago. There is an orange jumpsuit mugshot of him if you search online.

The third Senate race, Senate 23, in Lexington and towards Red Bank and Batesburg has a challenger, Mr. Kennedy, that has run a clean race against a 12-year incumbent, Katrina Shealy.

An MSN/WIS TV piece online quotes the incumbent, Ms. Shealy, making unsubstantiated claims about her opponent and boldly states it’s “…the dirtiest campaign she’s had during her 12 years in the senate” as she doubles down with the statement “the gloves are now off” and will apparently go dirty as she feels necessary.

Normalizing that it is OK to go negative is almost as vile as your Senator talking about her female parts in the well of the Senate in order to show camaraderie with Democrats for the purpose of halting a bill. That nasty display is on record and available if you search.

This kind of trashy political theater must end. We the People are sick and tired of dirty politics, and candidates making false claims with their pride and ego overcoming basic decency.

Don’t be fooled by all the trashy, dark money mailers and hit pieces that have come into your mailbox. Please do your own research first, and vote your conscience on Tuesday.

7:00am-7:00pm on Runoff Election Day, June 25th. Those who participated in the initial Republican Primary or did not vote in either partisan primary may participate in the runoff elections.