Carolina Politics Online

Former newspaper publisher Bill Collins announced earlier this month that he was collecting signatures to run against former Sen. Mike Rose as an independent in November. Rose defeated Sen. Randy Scott in the Republican primary.

Collins said he would join the Republican caucus if he wins the election. He then announced several locations where people could sign the petition, including Mr. K’s Piggly Wiggly on Cedar Street.

Some Republicans started urging people not to shop at any place that had one of Collins’ petitions. They were motivated by a resolution the Dorchester County Republican Party’s executive committee unanimously passed urging Republicans to oppose the petition by “all legal and ethical means.” The resolution urged opposition “by all means possible” before some party leaders said that was too much and toned it down.

The Post and Courier

Can somebody clue the Dorchester GOP into what a Representative Republic is.  You don’t own that Senate seat!  The man has a right to run and these childish antics by members of the county Republican Party are going to alienate voters against them.  Collins is a third party candidate.  Odds are he’s going to lose.  The odds are really, really good that he’s going to lose because third party candidacies rarely catch on.  Right now the Dorchester Republicans are helping to lessen those odds and their state party chairman is encouraging to keep it up!

In Senate District 12 Lee Bright has defeated State Representative Scott Talley 3,100 votes to 2,828.  In Senate District 13 Shane Martin absolutely pummeled Jim Ritchie, winning with 4,037 votes over Ritchie’s 1,923.  In Senate District 17 Creighton Coleman edged out Leah Moody by 5 percentage points.  Moody was my pick for that race.

I got some of what I wanted tonight, but I am pissed about Knotts winning.

I would like to take every single person who voted today for Knotts, bury them up to their necks in the ground, pour honey over their heads, and then unleash a colony of fire ants.  I think that is the appropriate punishment for what they did today.

If you live in South Carolina’s 23rd Senate District, please get out and vote for Katrina Shealy in tomorrow’s run off election.  Jake Knotts is a paraiah in the Senate and a barrier to any kind of reform.  He is a glutton with our tax dollars and deserves to be kicked out of the capitol building right on his fat ass.

And this is your public service announcement of the day.

U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint has endorsed Katrina Shealy over Jake Knotts for a Lexington County state Senate seat, weighing in on a race that has divided local, state and federal politicos.

DeMint’s endorsement follows that of Gov. Mark Sanford. Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson has appeared in television commercials endorsing Knotts, while U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham told House and Senate incumbents earlier this year that he would support their campaigns.

The State

Nice.  Very nice.  Shealy must win this race.  That is a shot in the arm this state needs.

This is the difference between politicians like Sanford and DeMint and politicians like Wilson and Graham.  Sanford and DeMint stand on their principles.  Wilson and Graham are party hacks.

Scott lost the Republican primary for District 38 last week to former state Sen. Mike Rose.

He called a meeting of the county legislative delegation Thursday to talk about re-evaluating at least some board members whose terms have expired.

He didn’t get any support from the three House members who joined him in council chambers.

“Replacing any of these people before the November election would be suicide,” said Rep. Annette Young, also a Republican.

Nobody in the audience of about 50 supported the idea. Critics called it payback.

The Post and Courier

If Scott has been so concerned about the quality of those serving on the elections board wouldn’t the time to bring that up have been several months back prior to the primary race?  You’d think if he was so worried about the people serving on this board he would have wanted any issues corrected before an election in which he was facing an inside challenger, unless of course he wasn’t worried about losing.  Now, that he did, it’s an issue.

Party leaders unanimously endorsed a resolution that includes a promise to “strongly oppose by all legal and ethical means any efforts to obtain signatures for independent candidates to oppose those who were victorious in the June 10 Republican Primary Election.”

A proposal to kick anyone who signs the petition out of the party didn’t get any support.

Collins needs to turn in more than 3,100 signatures to the State Election Commission by July 15 to be on the ballot.

The Post and Courier

What is the problem here?  Does the Dorchester Republican Party not believe in free and fair elections?  I like Mike Rose and he is my preferred candidate in November and I think it’s likely he will win.  That being the case, everyone has a right to run for office and the voters should have a choice on who they want to represent them.  This move by the Dorchester GOP is anti-Democratic and childish.

This was not at all expected.

Gov. Mark Sanford, despite saying he wouldn’t get involved in the Senate District 12 race, on Monday endorsed Lee Bright over state Rep. Scott Talley.

Sanford announced his endorsement at Bright’s campaign headquarters at 1220 John B. White Sr. Blvd. in Spartanburg, only a few hundred yards from Talley’s law office.

The Herald-Journal

This endorsement has sent waves through Talley’s campaign because Sanford has praised Talley in the past as a taxpayer hero. Personally, I would like to have seen Talley support more of Sanford’s vetoes and maybe that has a little something to do with it. Perhaps he thinks Bright can be more reliable in that area. It’s funny because I was actually leaning towards Bright in this race myself, but as I said a couple of weeks ago I still believe that any of the guys that were running in this race would be a good fit in the Senate.

Petitions started circulating over the weekend in Summerville in an effort to give voters a choice for State Senate in November.

The effort is to put the name of Bill Collins, the former editor/publisher/owner of the Summerville Journal Scene, on the ballot.

“I’ve had an enthusiastic group of supporters helping me collect the signatures and we’ve been met with tremendous success so far,” Collins said.

“I would like to offer the voters another choice in this election. I feel with my strong ties to the community, my passion for the issues and my history of representing the views of this community, I can be a tremendous asset in the Senate.”

Collins says his approach to government is simple: “Government needs to be big enough to do the job, but not too big for its britches.”

Goose Creek Gazette

Mr. Collins is a smart man.  Government is indeed too big these days.  I am happy with Rose’s victory over Scott and think he is a good candidate, but I welcome Mr. Collins’ candidacy just the same.  He is correct.  People should have a choice in every election.

Representative Phillip Frye (R-Spruce Pine) another fine, upstanding legislator caught boozing behind the wheel plans to plead guilty to what I assume is a DWI. He had a blood alcohol content of .18. You can add him to the list of drunken Carolina legislators joining Joe Boylan (R-Pinehurst) and South Carolina State Senator Randy Scott (R-Summerville). Fortunately for Frye, unlike his two compatriots, he has no opposition in this year’s election. Boylan and Scott’s incidents cost them both their elected offices in their state’s primaries.

I made a brief post last night summing up the results of several primaries across the state. There were candidates I was really gunning for who came up short and others I was hoping would fall on their faces who managed to eek it out, but nonetheless, the reformers made gains.

The two most watched races in the Senate both had positive results. Tom Davis managed to knock off RINO Catherine Ceips last night in Senate District 46. With Davis being Sanford’s former Chief of Staff, we know we’ll have someone in there who will support the Governor’s low tax, low spend, pro-growth agenda far more than Ceips did, which was practically never.

The other race was in Senate District 23. Katrina Shealy, the Chairman of the Lexington County Republican Committee came up short by five points, but managed to force Jake Knotts into a run off election. I think Shealy would have won this race by her own right had there not been a third candidate running, but that no longer matters. Knotts received 45% of the vote, which means the majority didn’t want him to return. The run off election will be determined by who has the best ground game.

Randy Scott is out in Senate District 39. He was defeated by former State Senator Mike Rose who is another reform minded conservative. With Scott gone that is one less RINO working against our governor for a better South Carolina.

Jim Ritchie may be seeing his final days in the Senate since Shane Martin also held him to a run off. Martin actually beat Ritchie by almost 18 points last night, but he didn’t make the 50% mark. He ended up with 49.63% of the vote. Doh! Fortunately, since Martin did so well I think the odds are in his favor in the run off.

There was some improvement in the House as well, but the Senate is the one that really needs gutted. I would have preferred to see a few more victories last night. We needed Carl Gullick out of the House and it almost happened. We also needed B.R. Skelton out and his opponent gave him a bit of a scare. Luke Rankin is another worthless glutton in the Senate we could have done without.  Hopefully, the strong efforts by the challengers that came up short will be enough to force these guys to reevaluate what it is they are doing in Columbia. Of course, I am not holding my breath.

Overall, I am happy with the results of the election and I hope to see some better things from the new legislature in 2009.  As for the survivors who should have been voted off the island and didn’t, now is the time to start finding their replacements.  We have two years to prepare them.

The State Elections Web Site is not up to date that well. Some races have already been called in the media, but the state site still shows them unreported. What I know so far is the following:

In Senate District 46 Tom Davis has ousted RINO Catherine Ceips. This is a huge, huge win for all the reformers in this state and it shows that Mark Sanford still holds a lot of clout with his constituents even though the legislature snubs him.

In Senate District 23 Katrina Shealey has managed to push Jake Knotts into a run off election, as I predicted would be the case. This is another good turn of events because Knotts is the sorriest excuse for a Republican probably in South Carolina history.

In Senate District 42 Robert Ford managed to miraculously keep his seat from challenger Dwayne Green and by a 50 point margin. I don’t know how he pulled this one off. Ford must have made a deal with the devil.

In House District 38 Joey Millwood has ousted incumbent RINO Bob Walker by 19 votes! This is another victory for those hoping for government reform.

Scott Talley has won the race for Senate District 12. I commented the other day that all three of these guys were decent so this was a win, win situation and step forward.

In House District 37 Steve Parker has trounced incumbent Ralph Davenport by 25 points!

The State is reporting that Senator Randy Scott has lost to his primary challenger, Mike Rose, but I can’t find any returns on that race yet.

Jim Ritchie will have to face challenger Shane Martin again in a run off election for the 13th Senate District.

B.R. Skelton prevailed over challenger Trey Whitehurst in House District 3.

Bob Leach was defeated by his challenger Bill Wylie in House District 21.

There are two candidates running against Democrat with an R next to his name, Jake Knotts, in the Republican primary on Tuesday, Katrina Shealy and Mike Sturkie.  Shealy is the best hope for taking down Knotts, but Sturkie being in the race is going to make that task even more difficult.  Incumbents almost always have an advantage when challenged because of their name recognition.  That can also be a thorn in their side if they gained notoriety during their term.  I think Knotts sucks, but I don’t know exactly what the feel is in his Senatorial district.

Sturkie should have gotten out of this race a while ago because he is not a serious candidate.  Having two challengers to an incumbent hurts the opposition because the anti-incumbent vote generally gets split two ways, allowing the incumbent to cruise to victory.  However, since South Carolina has run off elections, the best hope is probably keeping Knotts below the magic number needed for him to win hands down.  Shealy could pull off an upset Tuesday, that’s certainly possible, but more than likely we’ll have to take fat man to a second election to be rid of him.

There are three candidates in the Tuesday’s primary to determine who the Republican nominee will be for the 12th Senate District. The 12th covers part of Spartanburg County and is currently represented by State Senator John Hawkins who is thankfully retiring. The three candidates are business owner Lee Bright, State Representative Scott Talley of the 34th State House District, and business L.B. Watson.

Bright has a firm and outspoken position on lowering the income tax burden on state residents and reigning in the disgusting 40% growth of government we have experienced over the past three years in Columbia. He is correct in his assessment that if we lower the income tax and institute some type of tort reform it will be a beacon for industrial growth here in South Carolina.

Talley also has a taxpayer friendly record. Governor Mark Sanford named him a “taxpayer hero” for his efforts at cutting taxes and frivolous spending.

As a State Representative, Scott:

• Served on the committee that drafted the property tax relief package…cutting property taxes by $500,000,000.

• Backed a plan to eliminate grocery taxes, saving taxpayers $200 million per year.

• Supported a plan to cut income taxes by $86 million per year.

• Pushed a plan to suspend the state’s $16.75-cents-per-gallon gasoline tax for three months.

• Introduced a plan to cap state spending at the rate of population growth plus the growth in personal income..

Scott has also consistently backed a plan that limits the growth of government spending to population + inflation.

L.B. Watson has also proclaimed himself to be have a conservative view on spending public dollars. I’ve a harder time finding more information on him.

I think the state will probably do well with any one of these guys in the Senate which is a nice change of pace and they’ll certainly be an improvement over Hawkins. This is a win-win situation no matter the outcome.

The Herald -Journal today wrote an article about the Senate District 13 race claiming that the three Senate candidates are on the “same page” when it comes to spending. It’s quite apparent that Robert Dalton, who authored the article, didn’t take even five minutes to look up Jim Ritchie’s abysmal record in the area of spending. Ritchie may tout his proposed constitutional amendment that would have imposed a spending cap on the budget, but he doesn’t practice what he preaches.

The 2007-2008 budget contained an 11% spending increase over 2006. This budget was stuffed full of wasteful pork and misuse of our tax dollars. Where was Jim Ritchie on this? Why, he voted in favor of it.

In 2007, when Governor Sanford vetoed 243 budget items for a total savings of $167 million of taxpayer dollars, Jim Ritchie voted to sustain only one of those vetoes. One, out of 243. In 2005 he voted to sustain a meager 10. And in 2004, Ritchie voted to sustain 8 budget vetoes out of 106.

The South Carolina Club for Growth, a taxpayer watchdog group, gave Jim Ritchie a failing grade of “F” for the 2007 session.

Hyde and Martin are the reformers in this race. Ritchie is the bankrupt status quo. To claim that Ritchie is on the same page as his two challengers on issues of spending is simply fraudulent.

Under the health care measure, the state will spend an additional $21 million to expand the federal-state children’s health insurance program by raising the family income limit for eligibility. Advocates say the program will offer health care to an additional 88,000 children.

Sanford had vetoed that bill and the $6.3 million for the indigent defense program from the state’s $7 billion budget, saying the poor economy didn’t allow for expanded programs. He wanted savings used for prison budgets and school bus fuel costs.

The State

So I have to keep paying high tax rates to fund the doctor visits of other peoples’ brats.  I just got a $500 doctor bill in the mail today.  Will Columbia pay that for me?

The House and Senate Journals should be updated tomorrow.  I’ll be able to see at that point who voted for what.

The Senate spent about five hours on the vetoes, ultimately overriding all but one of the vetoes the House had also overridden. They agreed with Sanford’s veto of a measure that would have required the state’s Medicaid agency to make monthly reports to the Legislature.

Their decisions meant that only $2 million of Sanford’s $72 million in vetoes were sustained after the Legislature overrode 57 of 69 vetoes.

The governor offered a blunt response.

“While we believe that the House ultimately failed to address our state’s financial situation, what the Senate did in not sustaining a single dollar’s worth of vetoes shows not only a disdain for taxpayers, but a complete abdication of their constitutional duty to put forth a budget that is indeed balanced,” Sanford said in a a prepared statement.

He’s absolutely right.  There is nothing else to say.

It sure sounds like that to me. The Post and Courier today broke a story today about how several of our state legislators are funneling money through state colleges and universities to then have the money transferred to some other cause, generally some kind of charity. Let’s take for example, State Representative David Mack (D-North Charleston).

In Mack’s case, he sent $300,000 to S.C. State in the 2006-07 school year and asked the university to send the money to a Columbia-based nonprofit organization called the Palmetto Center for Advocacy. The center conducts health education programs statewide, especially obesity prevention programs.

Mack sent the group another $400,000 through S.C. State in the 2007-08 school year.

Anastasia Shaw, deputy director for Palmetto Center for Advocacy, said the $700,000 from the state is the only money the group has brought in so far. But, she said, the center is “looking to diversify funding.”

According to the group’s Web site, Mack is employed as its “outreach director.” In a telephone interview, Mack said he now does consulting work for the group and previously was the organization’s interim director. He also said he is paid for all of his work with the center but declined to say how much.

When asked why he chose to send the money through the university instead of going through the state’s competitive grants program, Mack said, “We just chose that way.”

He just “chose that way” because he didn’t actually want to go through the competitive grants process and also take a chance on his request not being granted. Therefore, he cheated. He lied about where the money was going to. He had it sent to S.C. State and then used them as the bag man had them send the money somewhere else. In Mack’s case, he sent the money to a company he is employed by. Umm….. shouldn’t this man be on his way to jail right now?? Hello, SLED? Are you paying attention to this or are you only concerned when a state official snorts coke in the privacy of his own home?

Google defines money laundering as “Conduct or acts designed in whole or in part to conceal or disguise the nature, location, source, ownership or control of money.” That sounds pretty close to what’s going on behind the scenes with Mr. Mack.

Mack is not the only one. The Post and Courier uncovered several of our state lawmakers engaging in this fraud and what quite frankly to me should be illegal if it isn’t already.

Another legislator who used S.C. State as a funnel was Sen. John Matthews, D-Bowman. Matthews sent $150,000 in the 2006-07 school year and $200,000 in the 2007-08 school year through the university to the Lower Orangeburg-Upper Dorchester Community Development Corp.

Matthews said the program mostly helps low-income people in the high-poverty region prepare for and land jobs.

According to the group’s Web site, Matthews is a non-voting member of the organization’s board of directors. His wife, Geraldine Matthews, is the board’s vice chairwoman and serves on the board’s personnel, finance and overview and assessment committees.

Matthews said Wednesday that neither he nor his wife are compensated for their work with the organization. He also said that he gave up his role as a voting member of the board when he brought state money to the organization.

Here we have another politician funneling money to an organization that both he and his wife have a vested interest in and are members of. There are a few more.

The university also passed $100,000 to EngenuitySC for the National Hydrogen Association Convention, McKinney said. The university, he said, has no record of specific legislators involved in such transactions.

Kyle Michel, a lobbyist for EngenuitySC, said the money will be used to promote South Carolina, especially the Columbia region, as “a place for hydrogen fuel cell economic development” during the 2009 convention.

Neil McLean, executive director for the group, said the money came from the Legislature but no specific legislator.

Sen. Nikki G. Setzler, D-West Columbia, and Rep. Joan Brady, R-Columbia, are members of EngenuitySC’s board of trustees, he said.

–Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney, sent $115,000 in the 2007-08 school year through Winthrop to the Lake Wylie Chamber of Commerce to expand the Lake Wylie Small Business Center.

–Sen. John Hawkins, R-Spartanburg, sent $100,000 in the 2007-08 school year through Clemson to the Spartanburg Humane Society. Hawkins has no connection to the group other than being the state senator who represents the area, he said. He also said he would have been willing to use the state’s competitive grant program or any other funding mechanism, “but this worked.”

–Frances Marion University has funneled $187,294 to the Mount Pleasant-based Palmetto Project over the last three school years, and nearly $300,000 has been passed through the university over the past five years. John Kispert, vice president for business affairs for the university, said he is unaware of the name of the legislator associated with the money.

–Kispert said the university receives correspondence about the money from Palmetto Project Executive Director Steve Skardon. Skardon said the money has been coming from the Legislature for years, but not from a specific lawmaker. He said the money has been used for the Omega Project.

So in this last example, they don’t even know who they are getting the money from!

Are the people of South Carolina going to stand for this? This needs to have a serious investigation done into every single one of these occurrences and determine if this practice is criminal. Even if it isn’t it is most definitely a breach of ethics and that along should merit removal from office.

The State House voted in a landslide yesterday to agree to the Senate approved version of the illegal immigration bill that Harrell and McConnell worked on together to finally get completed in both chambers. I imagine Sanford will approve the bill and we will soon begin to witness the exodus of these lawbreaking invaders from our state, just as it was seen in Arizona and Oklahoma.

Of course, there were a few objections:

“The trail of probable cause sways toward racial profiling,” said Whipper, whose district includes a large population of immigrants.

Whipper said he is worried that legal Hispanic immigrants, specifically, will face hardships as a result of the legislation.

He also says he does not think legal immigrants were involved enough in the process to have had their voices heard and that they might be unaware of what’s coming down the pike.

Why do legal immigrants need to have more of a voice concerning this legislation? What makes them different than anyone else living in South Carolina?

Whippersnapper’s concern about racial profiling may have some validity to it, but it’s not due to any elements of racism. It’s just a fact that the vast majority of illegal aliens in this country are from south of the border. That’s just the way it is so naturally people are going to suspect Hispanics that don’t speak English as being here illegally. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, you know?

The Post and Courier provides a list of what the bill will do. I’m satisfied:

– Authorizes the State Law Enforcement Division to reach a deal with federal agencies for the enforcement of immigration laws.

– Requires people to prove their lawful presence in the U.S. to receive public benefits, although some exceptions apply, such as for emergency medical treatment.

– Adds additional penalties for ID fraud in connection to an illegal immigrant.

– Requires all businesses to check the legal status of workers by using a state driver’s license, a license from another state that has the same eligibility requirements or E-Verify (a free, online database that lets employers check Social Security numbers).

– Mandates fines for employers between $100 and $1,000 for every time they fail to verify the legal status of a worker, charge employers who knowingly hire an illegal immigrant with a felony and suspend right of businesses to operate when they get caught with illegal workers.

– Allows fired citizens to sue their former bosses if they’re replaced by illegal workers.

– Prohibits illegal immigrants from attending state universities or receiving state-funded college scholarships.

– Outlaws “sanctuary cities.”

– Requires judges to check immigration status when setting bail.

– Expands the state grand jury’s jurisdiction to include immigration fraud.

– Creates an illegal immigration hot line through the state Commission for Minority Affairs.

– Creates a felony for harboring and transporting illegal immigrants.

Harrell, who opposes spending the $159 million the tax increase would raise on health care for the poor, railed against “entitlement” programs and raising a generation that would expect state-funded health care.

The State

He’s precisely correct. The welfare state in this country has been a complete disaster. We have a few generations of people now who have been raised since birth to believe that it’s the government’s job to wipe their ass for them. This is not a country of collective rights. We are a nation of individual rights and in order to have the freedom and liberty to enjoy those individual rights you have to be able to provide for yourself and your family. You can’t do it addicted to government programs. You aren’t free when you’re being provided to by the government. You’re living in serfdom and you’re handing the control of your life over to bureaucrats.

And I haven’t even gone into the fact that it’s simply immoral to use the government to force your neighbors to pay your way. What happened to the idea that you get what you work for? Working people have their own bills to pay and their own families to take care of. Taking more of their money to throw away at drug addicts, drunks, and unwed babies mamas and their children makes it harder for the working families who are living responsibly to make ends meat. The supporters of the welfare state know this to be true, but they won’t admit it. Enter Gilda Cobb-Hunter:

Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, was on the phone talking national Democratic Party politics when Harrell’s words caught her attention and left her stunned.

“It was so hurtful to a lot of people,” she said. “I could not sit there I was so angry. I’ve never heard him use language like that.”

Democrats accused Harrell of using “code words” and speaking with the “privilege” of white skin.

Cobb-Hunter said she and others had come to accept they would lose the vote, after House GOP leadership worked to keep members from overriding Sanford’s veto. But Harrell’s comments felt like “piling on” to her and other black lawmakers.

Tuesday “was so, so sad and so unnecessary,” she said.

What’s so, so sad and so unnecessary is Ms Cobb-Hunter (or Mrs. Terry, what ever she calls herself) to turn into a race baiting bitch because she can’t professionally and honestly address the issue. She knows darn well what Harrell said is the truth and being confronted with it backed her into a corner. Like most Marxists, when she couldn’t defend her position she started ranting on about racism. Such frequent false accusations of discrimination from so-called “black leaders” has dulled the ears of most Americans. Nobody cares about racial accusations anymore. People like Sharpton and Jackson and many black politicians have cried wolf on it so many times that people just roll their eyes now when they hear it and just ignore it. The sad part about that is in the instance of a real incident nobody believes the victim.

But the Medicaid question is not likely to go away. Expanding Medicaid was a key provision to Senate Democrats, and Senate Minority Leader John Land, D-Clarendon, said he would not vote for a bill without it. The money, he said, goes right back to the state economy through doctors, nurses and other health care providers.

Observers noted the landscape for passing a cigarette tax could change between now and January. Most notably, elections in June and November that will change the members of the General Assembly, who again will be faced with making a decision.

Sen. Thomas Alexander, R-Oconee, who helped strike a cigarette tax compromise in the Senate, said that despite hurt feelings, he believed the issue could not be ignored.

“If it’s worth doing, if it’s the right thing. It will get done.”

As long as Sanford is in the governor’s seat we’re safe on this for at least the next two years. Whether or not we’ll be able to stave off the legislative Socialists like Tom Alexander, Rex Reed, John Land, and Gilda Cobb-Hunter will depend on how many of these GOP primaries go on June 10th. If they manage to oust many of the RINOs then South Carolina has a positive future ahead of it.

Man, did this guy just get the biggest break of his life. We’ll know in about a week and a half if it’s enough to save his reelection campaign.

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. — A driving under the influence charge against a state senator has been dropped after a judge discovered there was a one-minute gap in the audio portion of the videotape of the arrest.

The Post and Courier of Charleston reported that magistrate Phillip Newsome said Thursday that state law requires a sworn statement explaining any problems with the videotape of a DUI arrest and authorities did not provide an explanation.

Sen. Randy Scott was set to stand trial when the ruling was issued.

The State