Over the last few days, I’ve walked you through two threads of power that most people in South Carolina never see—because those who hold that power are very comfortable keeping you in the dark.
Thread One: The Legal Power Thread
I’ve shown you how our lawyer-legislator judicial system is not representative of the people of South Carolina. Not even close.
We have 11,000 lawyers in our state—but somehow they hold a wildly disproportionate share of the political and judicial power that governs all 5.3 million of us.
These lawyer-legislators wrote the laws that give themselves legislative privilege in the courtroom.
They built a system where they sit on the Judicial Merit Selection Commission, hand-picking the very judges before whom they later appear in court.
They control who serves on what committees—including the Ethics Committee that is supposed to hold powerful people accountable.
When a system is built like that, it stops being representative government. It stops being government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
Instead, it becomes government of the powerful, by the powerful, and for the powerful.
And that’s exactly what has happened in South Carolina.
Thread Two: The Money Power Thread.
This thread is even thicker. Even stronger. And even more dangerous.
Most people do not realize that the Attorney General of South Carolina—one person—controls hundreds of millions of dollars in legal contracts for state agencies.
Except for insured liability claims, the Attorney General holds primary supervisory authority over litigation involving state agencies. State agencies typically must seek approval from the Attorney General’s Office to hire private counsel.
When legal services are needed—$50,000 here, $100,000 there, $300,000 over there—the Attorney General picks the winners
And the winners are usually the same powerful firms. The same insiders. The same well-connected lawyers who already control the legal thread.
Think about the opioid settlement.
Think about the Savannah River Site settlement.
Think about every major case where big money was involved.
Who chose the lawyers?
Who directed those tens of millions of dollars?
Who benefited from those decisions?
One person. One office. One thread of power.
And almost nobody in South Carolina even knows it.
The Lobbyist Thread: $60 Million a Year—Minimum
We have over 2,000 lobbyists in South Carolina
If those lobbyists only made $30,000 a year—which they don’t—that’s still $60 million a year being spent to influence your government.
Do you think Dominion Energy’s lobbyists are focused on lowering your power bill?
Do you think Blue Cross Blue Shield’s lobbyists—who already paid fines for illegal political activity—are fighting to save you money on health insurance?
Do you think the State Farm lobbyists who swarm the State House are trying to make your car insurance cheaper?
Of course not.
They’re there to protect power. They’re there to protect profit. They’re there to protect the system.
The Dark Money Thread: Hundreds of Millions of Dollars
Every two years—and especially every four years—South Carolina is flooded with dark money.
Shadow groups pay for ads.
Anonymous donors fund attack campaigns.
Millions are spent to convince you that someone is a saint…or a devil.
Not because they care about truth. Not because they care about you.
But because they care about influence.
About access.
About contracts.
About power.
The Campaign Money Thread: Influence, Not Benevolence
When a candidate receives 100 or 200 maximum donations, do you really think that’s generosity?
Or is it an investment?
Because every powerful person and every powerful organization understands one simple reality:
Money in politics isn’t charity.
It’s leverage.
And in South Carolina, it has built a system that protects the insiders…
and shuts out the people who actually live here.
So What Do We Do Now?
That answer is simple.
We expose it.
We talk about it.
We tell the truth about the legal thread and the money thread that control our state.
And then—we break those threads.
But here is the part almost nobody understands:
The real election in South Carolina is NOT in November.
The real election is June 9, 2026 — Primary Day.
In a Republican state like ours:
The person who wins the Republican primary for governor on June 9
will be your governor—likely for the next eight years.The person who wins the Republican primary for attorney general on June 9
will control the legal power thread and the money power thread—likely for the next eight years.
The people who win the primary for the State House will be your representatives.
So ask yourself. Are they part of the problem?
Are they benefiting from the legal and money threads?
Or are they truly here to represent We the People?
My Challenge to You
Find out who the candidates really are.
Don’t trust the ads.
Don’t trust the mailers.
Don’t trust the propaganda.
Look deeper.
Ask harder questions.
Follow the money.
And follow the influence.
Because until we expose these threads, until we elect people who are willing to cut them, South Carolina will remain what it has quietly become:
A state run by the powerful, for the powerful—
instead of a state run by the people, for the people.
It’s time to take it back
And please—share this publicly.
South Carolina deserves to know what’s really happening behind the curtain.
