Mystery in South Carolina Politics

Despite having no real campaign or prior political support in the state, Alvin Greene won the primary to face Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) this fall. The Democratic nominee from South Carolina was unemployed and entirely unknown before he somehow won his party’s nomination on Tuesday.

Now, Greene is in trouble because of a pending felony charge for showing pornographic images to a University of South Carolina student. Suzy Khimm, a reporter in the Washington bureau of Mother Jones, wrote that Greene was also kicked out of the Army and the Air Force.  The South Carolina Democratic Party called on Greene on Wednesday to drop out of the race, but he vowed to stay in the race.


The third-ranking House Democrat, Jim Clyburn, said he found it strange that Greene, a relative unknown prior to Tuesday, was able to produce the money to register and run for Senate despite being unemployed.

Greene allegedly tried to pay the registation fee in cash, and Clyburn said he wondered whether an outside party might have funded both the fee and Greene's campaign, in violation of federal campaign finance laws. Other sources say that Greene tried to pay with a personal check, but was required to present a check from a campaign account.

"There were some real shenanigans going on in the South Carolina primary," Clyburn said during an appearance on a local radio show. "I don't know if he was a Republican plant; he was someone's plant."

"I would hope the U.S. attorney down there would look at this," Clyburn said about Greene's qualifications for the ballot.

"I think there's some federal laws being violated in this race, but I think some shenanigans are going on in South Carolina," Clyburn explained. "Somebody gave him that $10,000 and he who took it should be investigated, and he who gave it should be investigated."

Stop the madness! This should prove interesting as the story unfolds.

Sources:  The Hill Blog, hauffington Post, The Beast, Mother Jones