Court rules Danny Ford II stays on SC ballot; listeners debate primary.

What this episode covers

Charlie James: Well, there was good news for Danny Ford II: a judge has ruled that he must be on the ballot. Uh, Judge Kovel, um, said he has—that has to happen. Ford, who recently ran, um, in the primary for Commissioner of Agriculture, sued the South Carolina State Election Commission and the SCGOP after he was disqualified under their new rule. Uh, the rule, which was adopted just a couple of weeks ago, um, requires candidates to have voted in two of the last three Republican primaries. Well, Ford argued that his name was improperly removed and is asking it to be restored on the ballot. Um, attorneys for South Carolina GOP said the court should not intervene in an election already underway, noting that overseas absentee ballots have already been sent out. Oh, oh, oh, wonderful! That's—that's great. That's great. Skyler Hutto, a Democrat representing Ford, argued that the party applied the rule inconsistently. He said, "If you delve down into the voting records, there's another candidate that is certified who we contend has the exact same voting record." I think we all know who they're talking about. "There was no statewide election that they voted in, but they were qualified, and Mr. Ford wasn't." The judge gave both sides until 5:00 Monday to submit their final arguments. Um, early voting starts on Wednesday. Now, I just did my sample ballot, okay? Just did my sample ballot, and I compared that ballot to the ballot that I downloaded just a couple of days ago. Danny Ford II is now on that ballot. He wasn't on the other one, but he is on this one after—after this ruling, I would imagine. Um, so that's very interesting. That—but this is just one of the—I mean, it just seems like that—and the whole thing, the whole reason that the SCGOP, I—I thought, got together just a few weeks ago, they reconvened the convention, called in all the ECs, and they said, "Hey! This is the new rule change. You have to have voted two of the last three statewide primaries." Statewide! We're not talking about local elections, we're talking about—we're not talking about County Commissioner, we're not talking about any of that, we're talking about statewide primaries. That would include President, Governor, Senator... those primaries. Statewide, not district-wide, statewide. And... we thought that was going to do something about closing the primaries. Well, that wasn't it. So now they come up with this new rule and everybody's like, "Well, so much for that." Let's go to Jeff in Easley. Jeff, welcome to the program. How you doing? Jeff: What's up, brother? Charlie James: This is it. Jeff: Hey, couple things. Uh, last night, I don't know if you noticed, but I guess Darline knew exactly what was going to be asked, cause I don't know if I'm the only one that noticed it, but she was reading off of something. Charlie James: She had notes. She had a lot of notes, yeah. I'm not going to go as far as to say she knew the—well, but here's the thing though, I mean, like I said just a few minutes ago, Jeff, everybody knew what questions were—was going to be asked. Jeff: Yeah. Charlie James: Not specifically, but they knew—they knew the topics. Jeff: Yeah, it makes my blood boil that came out of her mouth when she's trying to compare uh, her being like me and you, like she's hurt for money? Man, give me a break! That—that just kind of ticked me off, man. Charlie James: I know, it's a woman making $160,000 a year. No telling how much money her husband's making, but—but no, she—she shops—she said she shops at the bargain rack, right? Jeff: Yeah. [laughter] Charlie James: Yeah, I know, right? I appreciate it, Jeff. Thank you very much! Um, we still have the poll going on. It's going to be going on until 7:00 tonight: Who do you think won the debate last night? Text your candidate's last name—last name—uh, to 800-905-0989. Right now, Ralph Norman winning with 73% of the vote coming in; at second place, Mark Lynch with 19%; Mark Sanford coming in w ...

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