Saluda Delegation attends State Convention

For those who attended the recent ReOrg process of the Saluda County Republican Party in March, you are familiar with the fact that each of the eleven precincts involved chose a certain number of Delegates to attend the County Convention in April. These Delegates elected the new County Officers, Amy Potts (Chairwoman), Greg Sander (First Vice-Chairman), and Paul Gilbert (State Executive Committeman). They also elected five Delegates and five Alternates to attend the State Convention in May.

On Saturday, May 3, the Saluda Delegation of five was among a total of 916 total Delegates from South Carolina’s 46 counties.

There was controversy during the early part of the convention, when it was announced that the credentials committee had voted not to seat the entire Pickens Delegation after a hearing the night before. Tensions were running high, and there were obvious expressions of animosity between pro-McKissick and anti-McKissick factions on the floor.

Despite all the hard feelings, longtime State Chairman, Drew McKissick from Richland County was re-elected over two challengers, Lee Bright from Spartanburg, and Denny Floyd from Anderson. The totals were McKissick, 505; Bright, 367; and Floyd, 27.

Cindy Risher of Clarendon County was re-elected First Vice-Chair, Jennifer Cunningham of Richland County was elected to her first term as Second Vice-Chair, and Christen Norman of Charleston was elected Third Vice-Chair.

The last order of business was the passage of four resolutions:

1) A RESOLUTION OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA REPUBLICAN PARTY REGARDING RESTRICTION OF INTERFERENCE FROM FEDERAL DISTRICT COURTS. In summary it was a call for all South Carolina elected officials in Congress to do all they can to curtail and reverse the current situation in which Federal Judges are interfering with the powers of President Trump.

2) A RESOLUTION OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA REPUBLICAN PARTY EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR NOMINATING CANDIDATES BY PRIMARY. This resolution is against recent movement in some SC Counties to select Republican nominees for office, instead of continuing the current practice of Primary Elections.

3) A RESOLUTION OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA REPUBLICAN PARTY TO ENSURE BIPARTISAN REPRESENTATION FOR POLL MANAGERS AND CLERKS AT POLLING PLACES. In South Carolina, there is currently no consideration of whether our poll managers and clerks are Democrats or Republicans. In Saluda, this has rarely, if ever, presented a problem. In some other counties, however, it has. In several Democrat-run counties, there have been documented accounts of Republicans applying to work at the polls and being systematically overlooked in favor of Democrats. This resolution calls for bi-partisan staffing at every SC polling place in order to “promote accountability, transparency and integrity in our electoral system.”

4) A RESOLUTION OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA REPUBLICAN PARTY AFFIRMING REAL PROPERTY OWNERS’ RIGHT TO LAW ENFORCEMENT ASSISTANCE TO REMOVE TRESPASSERS AND SQUATTERS FROM THEIR PROPERTIES WITHOUT SUFFERING UNDUE DELAY, HARDSHIP, ATTORNEY FEES AND COURT COSTS. This title says it all.

All of these amendments passed easily, with number 3 being the only one that received any pushback.¹

Conventions can be raucous affairs in both political parties, but have been an important part of the electoral process in the United States for centuries. Many thanks to the delegates who took the day for their Party and their beliefs.

1. The Saluda County Republican Party will be emphasizing the proper use of resolutions to keep our elected representatives on all levels apprised of voter opinion on the issues of greatest importance to Saluda Republicans. ↩︎