Now former State Senator Robert Ford resigned today amid a myriad of alleged ethics violations. It’s been a rough 24 hours or so for the Democrat – he faced a legislative ethics committee yesterday who accused him of – among other things – using campaign funds to make purchases from two sex shops, and using a campaign credit card to purchase Viagara-like pills. He was then hospitalized last night with chest pains and finally quit his post this morning. Like I said – not the best day…but, then again, it was about par for the course for South Carolina politicians.
Although the spotlight was glaring on Ford this morning, it didn’t take long for attention to shift to his potential replacement. Many were wondering who would vie for the now vacant District 42 Senate seat.
We don’t anything for sure, but there should be a special election, much like what we just experienced in District 1, sometime in August. I would assume this version should have far less coverage and drama than the Mark Sanford/Elizabeth Colbert Busch race.
So, who will run? A source, on the condition of anonymity, offered up a couple names. Here’s who they mentioned:
- Clay Middleton – the source was very confident that Clay would run.
- Wendell Gilliard – source says he wants to run, but is currently a Representative in another district which may present some roadblocks
Meanwhile FITSNews is reporting that Marlon Kimpson, a Charleston-area lawyer, will run for the seat.
