Oct 05 2008
Lexington GOP Divided
Strong, divided loyalties stemming from the June primary between Republican state Sen. Jake Knotts and former county chairwoman Katrina Shealy have broken the party into resentful camps, GOP regulars said.
“It’s not the party that we’re accustomed to in Lexington County. I’ve never seen it this bad,†said Knotts, who won the hard-fought, million-dollar Republican primary for Senate District 23.
Shealy did the right thing by running against Knotts. He has one of the worst voting records in Columbia: consistent in supporting bigger spending, bigger waste, bigger government and has opposed just about every government reform objective out there. The Lexington GOP should be thoroughly embarrassed by having him in their ranks. Shealy understood the problem posed by keeping Knotts in the State Senate and she made a valiant attempt to fix it. The blame for this party’s disarray lies squarely on the shoulders of Knotts, Congressman Joe Wilson who was too cowardly to stand up to the status quo, and Republicans like Robert Schaeffer who loyally stand behind Knotts and is vying to become the new County Chairman.
God Bless you… You are so right. Too bad the liberal state newspaper is the only choice we have
The “State” newspaper is going to cause a divorce over here in Lexington! I keep canceling the subscription, but my husband [who doesn't follow politics] HAS to have a newspaper to read everyday.
I get furious every time I realize I have PAID to help them spout Jake Knotts’ blatant garbage. It is truly bewildering that people put up with him presenting himself as a ‘Republican.’
If Jake Knotts is so interested in “pulling the party back together” then he should stop his whinning. Last check he won the election but he can’t seem to get over having to spend money to do it. I guess that was his retirement nest egg. The only thing the Lexington County Republican Party has to be ashamed of is not kicking him out of the party years ago. The State Party should have booted him out when he openly supported someone running against the Governor and then tried to run himself when that didn’t work. How does he keep getting by with this. He is only a bully if you let him be.
People let him be a bully because most people involved in the party and the committees don’t have the testicular fortitude to stand up and oppose the status quo when it’s wrong. Katrina Shealy is an anomaly in that not only did she have the courage to run against Knotts she was also a party leader, which is even more rare.
A lot of the people involved in the committees, especially chairmen, that keep their loyalties behind RINOs like Knotts do so because they hope to advance their own careers or political ambitions some day. If they stick around and kiss Knotts’s ass maybe he’ll return the favor down the road.