Wednesday, the S.C. Chamber of Commerce released its endorsements for the Democratic and Republican gubernatorial primaries. Sen. Vince Sheheen took the nod for the Democrats, which is not very surprising. With the exit of Charleston attorney Mullins McLeod and Columbia lobbyist Dwight Drake from the race, it’s not hard to figure out that Sheheen will best Supt. of Ed. Jim Rex and Sen. Robert Ford for the nomination.

The Republican endorsement went to U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett. Making a decision in that race is way more risky for anyone this far out from the primary. Barrett, Atty. Gen. Henry McMaster and Lt. Gov. André Bauer are in a three-way dogfight for the nomination, and it’s only going to get nastier as the months go on until June.

Wednesday afternoon, the Sheheen campaign launched a new Facebook effort: “Hey, folks — let’s beat Gresham Barrett to the 5,000 mark in FB fans! It would be great if you could click on ‘Suggest to Friends’ underneath the profile picture. Thanks!” That was followed by Barrett’s page responding with, “We’ve been challenged. The Sheheen campaign is trying to beat us to 5,000 fans. Help us get there first by clicking the ‘Suggest to Friends’ link under my picture.” Barrett made it first.

All of this is to say that it looks like the leading candidates for both nominations are already preparing to go at it. That means that the other guys — Rex, Ford, McMaster, Bauer — better step up their campaigns, or the general election campaign will start before the June primary showdown.

It appears Lt. Gov. André Bauer has used funds from unknown sources and from his lieutenant governor campaign account to promote his bid for governor. If that is the case, it would be a violation of S.C. campaign ethics laws. At the very least, reporters should inquire about the funding source of Bauer’s recent television advertisement and his use of re-election campaign resources to benefit his gubernatorial campaign.

On Feb. 20, Bauer sent out an email to his supporters asking them to contribute to his race for the Republican nomination for governor. The email contained the logo for his gubernatorial campaign and contained a link to the campaign Web site. The only problem is, the email contained the disclosure that it was paid for by “The Committee to Re-Elect Andre Bauer.” That suggests that the email was paid for with money from the lieutenant governor account, which is forbidden by state law.

Specifically, the law in the S.C. Code of Laws is Section 8-13-1350. In part, it reads, “A contribution solicited for or received on behalf of the candidate is considered solicited or received for the candidacy for which the individual is then a candidate if the funds or contributions are solicited or received before the general election for which the candidate is a nominee or is unopposed.”

In plain English, it simply means that money raised for one office cannot be used to further a campaign of the same individual for a different office. Normally, candidates receive permission from contributors and then transfer funds from one committee to another, which is legal.

You may have already seen Bauer’s first advertisement of his gubernatorial effort. Again, it appears that his campaign is playing fast-and-loose with the rules again. An announcer says it was paid for by “Citizens for Andre Bauer.” Yet, according to the State Ethics Commission, no committee of that name is registered with the state. Bauer’s Web site lists “Andre Bauer for Governor” as the committee of record.

Again, it raises the question as to whether Bauer is using money from one committee to benefit another, or whether his campaign is just that incompetent, not keeping up with what the campaign committee is actually named.

The treasurer for “Citizens for Andre Bauer” that was listed on forms submitted for the advertisement to Columbia’s WIS-TV is Hank Page. Interestingly, Page is a state employee who works in the Lieutenant Governor’s Office. While state law is forgiving of what public employees do in their off-hours, if anything involving the campaign happened during work hours that would be a violation of the law, as well.

According to Section 8-13-1346, “A person may not use or authorize the use of public funds, property, or time to influence the outcome of an election.” The only exceptions are ones that are relevant to conducting public business, such as creating informational newsletters, other informational products, setting up public meetings and responding to inquiries from the media concerning a ballot measure.

For more than 10 years, Bauer’s consultant of record has been one of the more colorful figures in S.C. politics, Irmo’s Rod Shealy. For this campaign, Bauer’s been splitting his money between well-known Virginia consultant Chris LaCivita and Columbia lobbyist Larry Marchant’s Black Label Strategy. However, it has been reported that Shealy is still very involved in Bauer’s latest gambit.

While he also publishes community newspapers, Shealy’s claim to fame in this state is what can only be called his circumspect campaign tactics. Perhaps the most well-known of his antics happened in 1990, when he offered to pay an unemployed black fisherman to run for Congress from Charleston as a Republican. By entering a black candidate in the primary, Shealy is alleged to have hoped to scare white voters to the polls in the hopes of helping his sister in her GOP primary bid to become lieutenant governor. The activity spurred a state investigation that led to a fine by the State Ethics Commission. In an interview with Harper’s magazine in October 2007, Shealy called it, “a campaign violation for failing to disclose a candidate I dreamed up.”

But that’s not all.

In 2007, a robo-call with racist overtones was launched in the special election runoff between Randy Bates and Rep. Shannon Erickson for House District 124. Rumors among Beaufort County political insiders implicated Shealy in the move. His son, R.J., was managing Bates’ campaign and denied the campaign was involved.

When Sen. Tom Davis was making his run in 2008, he became engaged in a primary battle against then-Sen. Catherine Ceips, who hired Shealy as her consultant. Over the years, Davis had a house in Beaufort that had rooms for rent, at times to reporters from the Beaufort Gazette. During the period of leaving his position as Gov. Mark Sanford’s chief-of-staff and announcing his campaign, he began renovating the residence with the intention of making it his own.

Reportedly, Bates, who was Ceips’ chief of staff, showed up with a translator to the house and encountered a supposed illegal alien named Josias Mirales Ayala. This came on the heels of Davis’ wife securing contractors with the express intent that everyone working on the house would be legal, documented workers. The man who owned the company painting the house said he never employed anyone by that name.

Bauer knew of Shealy’s reputation when he hired him for his run for state representative in the ‘90s, and kept him on for his special election race for state senate and the 2002 and 2006 lieutenant governor’s races. Needless to say, those decisions cast some light on Bauer’s evaluation of whom he wants close to him and what he is willing to get into for his campaigns.

Starting in summer of 2009 and continuing into this year, South Carolinians have been inundated with more than they would like to know about the personal life and personal shortcomings of the Governor. In addition to everything else resulting from his behavior, the State Ethics Commission launched an investigation into Sanford’s misappropriation of state funds and campaign donations. An exhaustive initial investigation revealed 37 potential ethics violations.

During the discussion of whether the Governor should be impeached, censured or resign, more than a few people expressed concern about Bauer assuming the state’s highest office. Most South Carolinians already know the famous incidents – the plane crash, speeding at over 100 miles-per-hour and the like. But, it also involved his campaign practices.

It wouldn’t make much sense to replace one man with personal behavioral and professional ethics problems with another one.

The troika of leading Republican gubernatorial candidates all showed more than $1 million on hand as of the last disclosures, and the third-place member of the group, Lt. Gov. André Bauer, is going all the way live with some television ads this weekend. He’ll be the first candidate in the race to purchase TV time.

According to an AP story, the ads will be “message-oriented,” whatever that means. Usually, a candidate leads off with a bio ad that has gauzy pictures of the candidate with their spouse and children. Bauer, being single with no children, can’t pull that stereotype, so it seems like he’s going directly to the second level of ads — ostensibly positive and mapping out policy goals.

We’re willing to bet it’ll deal with his absurd comments about starving stray cats and poor children who have bad parents. When the entire nation reads your comments and exclaims, “What the fuck,” you probably said something very stupid. So, he had two choices — own up and admit you said something foolish, or take it to the bank. He took it to the bank. The story mentions how Bauer said in a recent debate that he promised he wouldn’t be “politically correct.”

Somebody ring a bell, because we just got a loaded phrase, code words to the voters. We grew up around people who, at times, would say that they weren’t going to be “politically correct.” It had nothing to do with a Bill Maher-like (whether liberal or conservative) irreverence. It usually had to deal with race. Now, we think that’s not what it’s about with Bauer. What we do think is the other part attached to uttering the phrase, which is, “I’m mavericky and can act like a total douchebag without compassion for others because that’s what pansy liberals do.”

And that’s a fact, Jack.

When we read the latest story about Lt. Gov. André Bauer, the first thought was, “What the fuck?” It started from the part in which he talks about a discussion with his grandmother about stopping feeding a runaway cat. He says he took a lesson, saying, “You know why? Because they breed. You’re facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that don’t think too much further than that. And so what you’ve got to do is you’ve got to curtail that type of behavior. They don’t know any better.”

What the hell? Not, “take the kitty to a no-kill shelter,” not, “put an ad in the paper to seek an adoptive family,” but to just quit feeding the cat. That’s pretty fucking harsh. But that didn’t stop Mr. Lt. Gov. Potter. He went on to pass the sins of the fathers (and the mothers) onto the children, suggesting that free or reduced lunch should be taken away from students whose parents don’t participate in their school life like they should.

This only harms the children, and it’s pretty clear Bauer doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing.

Everybody we’ve talked to in this town says Lt. Gov. André Bauer is no pushover when he runs for office. We were among those who counted him out against Mike Campbell in the 2006 primary race, only to get served in the runoff. Faced with his two main opponents (U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett and Atty. Gen. Henry McMaster) bringing in a pirate’s loot of money, he went to work over the last quarter, ringing up more than $802,000 in individual contributions.

He did so by going hard for the health care, auto sales and payday lending industries, which opened up their wallets and spent big, much of it in his lieutenant governor account. We’d go through the numbers and tally up how much each industry invested, give or take a few hundred, but that would take a couple hours we don’t have right now. Bauer also took out a $245,000 loan to put him over the $1 million mark for the end of 2009. The total transferred from the lieutenant governor account amounts to $638,607.

ANDRÉ BAUER
Contributions: $1,047,713
Expenditures: $14,981.85
Cash-on-hand: $1,049,581.15

Significant contributions
The Sembler Company, $3,500
Developer
Mick Zais, $500
Candidate for superintendent of education
Capital City/Lake Murray Tourism, $575×3
Tourism board
John Daly Enterprises, $1,000×3
Company of golfer John Daly
Darlington Raceway, $1,000
Race track
Jeff Gordon Racing School, $1,000
Company of NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon
Burnie Maybank, $500, $250, $1,000
Head of the Taxation Realignment Commission
James D’Alessio, $500
VP of Government Affairs, Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina
Michael Mungo, $250×2
Developer
Thomas Ravenel, $1,000
Former state treasurer
Edward Sellers, $1,000
CEO, BCBS of SC
Partylikearockstar.com dba Shop Road Boyz, $100
WTF
Chip Saltsman, $1,000
Consultant

Significant expenditures
McBrearty & Associates (consulting), $1,171.52
Advancing Strategies (consulting), $5,000×2
[From LG account] Black Label Strategy (consulting), $27,098.60
[From LG account] Advancing Strategies (consulting), $5,000

Larry Marchant, the gentleman who runs the Palmetto Policy Group and shills for big-time insurance and private school choice, apparently won’t use his stacks of the long green to call a cab. God forbid — that’s what the poors do! So, he got pulled for driving under the influence just after midnight on Dec. 23.

You see, the thing about Larry is that he has a tendency to speed. That’s what led to this charge.

DURING THE LISTED INCIDENT DATE AND APPROX TIME REPORTING OFFICER WAS SITTING STATIONARY ON THE SIDE OF THE ROADWAY FACING WEST BOUND ON THE 2500 BLOCK OF DEVINE STREET RUNNING STALKER II RADAR. REPORTING OFFICER OBSERVED THE LISTED VEHICLE TRAVELING EAST BOUND ON THE 2400 BLOCK OF DEVINE STREET AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED. SPEED WAS CONFIRMED BY STALKER II RADAR AT 47 MPH IN A 30 MPH ZONE. REPORTING OFFICER INITIATED A TRAFFIC STOP ON THE 2600 BLOCK OF DEVINE STREET. UPON CONTACT WITH THE LISTED SUBJECT, WHO WAS THE DRIVER OF LISTED VEHICLE, REPORTING OFFICER DID SMELL A STRONG ODOR OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE COMING FROM INSIDE OF THE VEHICLE. SUBJECT STATED THAT HE WAS COMING FROM HAVING A FEW DRINKS. REPORTING OFFICER ASKED SUBJECT TO EXIT AND STEP TO THE REAR OF THE VEHICLE. SUBJECT HAD A STRONG ODOR OF ALCHOLIC BEVERAGE ABOUT HIS BREATH AND PERSON, SPOKE WITH SLURRED SPEECH, AND WAS UNSTEADY ON HIS FEET. REPORTING OFFICER CONDUCTED HORIZONTAL
GAZE NYSTAGMUS TEST, WALK AND TURN TEST, AND ONE LEG STAND TEST ON THE LISTED SUBJECT, WHO DID FAIL ALL THREE TESTS GIVEN. DURING HORIZONTAL GAZE NYSTAGMUS SUBJECT HAD LACK OF SMOOTH PUSRSUIT IN BOTH EYES, DISTINCT AND SUSTAINED NYSTAGMUS AT MAXIMUM DEVIATION IN BOTH EYES AND ONSET OF NYSTAGMUS PRIOR TO 45 DEGREES IN HIS RIGHT EYE. SUBJECT ALSO CONTINUED TO MOVE HIS HEAD DURING THE TEST AFTER BEING INSTRUCTED SEVERAL TIMES NOT TO DO SO. DURING THE WALK AND TURN TEST, WHICH WAS CONDUCTED ON A FLAT AND LEVEL SURFACE, SUBJECT WAS UNABLE TO KEEP BALANCE DURING INSTRUCTIONS, SUBJECT STARTED BEFORE BEING TOLD TO DO SO, AND WAS NOT ABLE TO TOUCH HEEL TO TOE WHILE WALKING AND STEPPED OFF OF THE LINE SEVERAL TIMES. DURING ONE LEG STAND SUBJECT PUT HIS FOOT DOWN TWICE, CONTINUED TO USE ARMS TO KEEP BALANCE AFTER BEING INSTRUCTED NOT TO DO SO, AND SWAYED WHILE ATTEMPTING TO KEEP BALANCE. SUBJECT WAS PLACED UNDER ARREST FOR DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE, AND SPEEDING 47/30. SUBJECT WAS THEN READ HIS MIRANDA WARNING. SUBJECT WAS TRANSPORTED TO CPD HEADQUARTERS WHERE HE WAS READ HIS IMPLIED CONSENT RIGHTS AND WAS OFFERED A BREATH ALCOHOL ANALYSIS TEST, WHICH HE REFUSED. SUBJECT STATED THAT HE DID WISH TO HAVE AN INDEPENDANT TEST OF HIS OWN CHOOSING CONDUCTED, BUT REFUSED TO ADVISE REPORTING OFFICER WHERE HE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE IT DONE AT. SUBJECT WAS THEN TRANSPORTED TO A.S.G.D.C. LISTED VEHICLE WAS TOWED FROM THE SCENE BY ELGINS TOW SERVICE LOCATED AT 1220 LAURENS ST. SUBJECT’S SCDL WAS MAILED TO THE SCMDV ALONG WITH A COPY OF THE NOTICE OF SUSPENSION DUE TO THE SUBJECT’S REFUSAL TO TAKE A BREATH ALCOHOL ANALYSIS TEST.

Lt. Gov. André Bauer has allied himself with Marchant, and considering Bauer’s adventures behind the wheel, this could turn out bad for his campaign. As well, there are rumors about other campaigns that may have enlisted the services of the Marchant consulting firm that was created in May, but we won’t know those for sure until the Jan. 10 disclosure reports.

The police report

What the hell is going on with the campaign of Atty. Gen. Henry McMaster? His spokesman Rob Godfrey (a guy we actually think is an OK dude) ran some smack on U.S. Rep Gresham Barrett and Lt. Gov. André Bauer, which may have been a mistake. The most absurd bit is, “McMaster’s spokesman, equated the McMaster campaign’s plan not to use opposition research to running ‘a positive campaign.’” Eyes rolling SO HARD.

Gosh almighty, McMaster’s consultants have an in house blogger, for chrissakes. Oh, like Wheels Fogle isn’t going to be doing, and hasn’t already been doing, oppo on Barrett, Bauer, Haley and Grooms?

Somebody please tell the McMaster campaign to quit spewing ridiculous bullshit. It’s getting old.

Last night’s gubernatorial debate between 10 — 10 — candidates was largely a genial affair in which the Democrats and Republicans were mixed with each other by alphabetical order. Because it was sponsored by an environmental organization, the questions centered around environmental protection and issues surrounding economic development, energy exploration and their impact on the flora and fauna, air and water of our state.

In truth, it was more fun to watch the unusual things. Like, say, Lt. Gov. André Bauer’s high-performing eyebrows. This is an old story, oft-told, but it’s just too damn entertaining. Years ago, we were hanging out at a bar where Liberty is now. It was back when, we believe, Bauer was still in the House. A gal from Carolina who did some work at the S.C. Democratic Party ran into Bauer there one night. She was tall, had red hair, always had the just-right clothes and makeup. From our perspective, she was pretty hot and the type of gal who had a penchant for older men. Anyway, they meet and start talking and hit it off, and he invited her to hang out on a boat on Lake Murray. Then, he kind of had a unibrow thing going on, and it tweaked her a little bit. The way she told the story, she went out to the boat with shaving cream and a razor, which was not received well. Ah, fun and games.

Somebody please head out to the store and pick up Sen. Robert Ford a neck. His head is sitting right there on his shoulders with nothing separating them. Where did the neck go? Is there a lost-and-found for body parts that just up and disappear? This sounds like it rises to the level of a full-blown legislative investigation. We just can’t keep allowing needed parts of our elected officials to go off on their own.

In an interesting occurrence, we switched Sen. Larry Grooms with U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, circa 2004. Let’s see if they notice! The end-of-debate push for text updates was simply classic. It eerily reminded us of Lieberman’s debate exhortations for watchers to go to joe2004.com. The man has Groomentum.

There was a second Folger’s slight-of-hand, in which we switched Atty. Gen. Henry McMaster with Colonel Sanders.

We’re wondering when the S.C. Policy Council is going to lay the wood to its friend, Rep. Nikki Haley, for saying that South Carolina needs to provide incentives to businesses. The leadership in the General Assembly did a pretty damn good job of putting together an incentive package to bring Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner production to the state, and the Policy Council went on a week-long wet blanket party afterward.

Also, cavemen, Aaron Eckhart and a few handsome gentlemen.

On a serious note, we were impressed with Dwight Drake’s performance. If he can challenge for the Democratic lead in the money race, he is going to be a real force. However, his continual references as a gubernatorial adviser is beginning to sound like former U.S. Sen. John Edwards’ “son of a mill worker” refrain.

Choice quotes from the night:

Ford: “We got the natural resources in South Carolina. That’s why I propose ‘South Carolina the Beautiful,’ which is a part of my platform, which would employ 100,000 new people in the largest film movie studio industry in the country.”

Ford: “Tell the members not to steal my idea, my ‘South Carolina the Beautiful’ theme.”
Moderator: “Is your idea for sale?”
Ford: “Probably not.”

McMaster: (pats McLeod on the back) “I’ve known Mullins for years. Excellent lawyer. Whole family of lawyers.”

Ford: “That’s why I introduced S. 42, which called for offshore drilling. I would like to remind the panel that in Louisiana, they have serious, serious hurricanes. In fact, during Katrina, the worst hurricane in American history, not one pelican was lost.”

Grooms: “I want to be the first governor to drill a hole.”

Tuesday night, 10 candidates, five from the Democrats, five from the Republicans, gathered for the first big gubernatorial debate of the 2010 election season. We watched it, but are going to go back through the recorded audio to see what were the most interesting parts of a mostly uninteresting debate. After all, for anyone who watched early-season presidential debates, when you have that many people on stage, it’s impossible to get the real give-and-take badassery we’ll end up seeing when both parties’ nomination battles go to runoffs next year.

With that being said, enjoy the tweets.

ChrisAllenSC: Robert Ford late for “prep” – just blew past me on 26 going at LEAST 15 over. (the 4 stickers & 2 magnets hlpd I.d.!)

JKuenzie: This debate is already producing some weird scenes. I’m watching Andre Bauer whispering into Dick Harpootlian’s ear.

JKuenzie: Introductions, photo op and now, makeup lady is on stage doing last minute touchups. Ford and Drake getting powder on their domes.

RobGodfrey: “The path to prosperity is lit with nuclear energy.” — @HenryMcMaster #sctweets

JKuenzie: Strangest answer so far: Ford suggests creation of “film movie industry” in SC as solution for global warming. http://myloc.me/1ka7q

ragley: Tweeting this SC governor debate kinda spoils the purpose of watching it, doesn’t it?

JKuenzie: Our lieutenant governor wants everybody to know he’s an energetic guy.

JKuenzie: Lot of discussion here about wind power. Rex says we should put turbine in front of stage.

JKuenzie: Ford says in Katrina, “not one pelican was lost.” Thus, SC should OK offshore drilling.

tylermjones: Gresham: “don’t take my word for it, take the heritage foundations word”…yeah, that’s what we’ll do.

lbstewart: I think Dwight Drake got a haircut just for tonight

tylermjones: Andre knocked the global warming question out of the park. So did dwight drake for that matter. Robert Ford dropped the ball with gibberish.

tylermjones: Larry Grooms denies global warming. I deny his candidacy.

tylermjones: Mullins McLeod is the wildcard in this race.

JKuenzie: Big winner in tonight’s SC gubernatorial debate: the wind.

RJShealy: Not at the debate. Hear it’s a decent one. Hoping someone askes Dwight Drake about spamming people.

Grooms4SCGov: Global Warming is NOT man made. The ground we’re standing on for this debate used to be under water.

tylermjones: Gresham Barrett talking like a DC politician, not a SC Governor.

tylermjones: Ok someone please kick Robert Ford off the stage.

RepBoydBrown: thank you Robert Ford for providing my nightly dose of comedy, your responses are priceless

lbstewart: Good grief Robert Ford wants SC to become Louisiana or something. #scdebate

Grooms4SCGov: We don’t need to be putting our people out of work and giving our jobs to other countries. Cap and trade will do that.

willmaxey: Mr. McLeod, any kind of speech trying to convince anyone of anything IS rhetoric

RepBoydBrown: “Don’t sue NC and GA every chance we get.” Check. Thanks for the heads up, Robert.

wesleydonehue: Having all the candidates on the same stage shows how laughable the SC Dem Party has become. All the GOP candidates are superior to theirs.

willmaxey: why won’t Barrett tell us HOW cap and trade would cost 14K jobs instead of parroting Heritage Foundation stats

mattheusmei: Man, Henry’s looking old — he’s come a long way from telling HS Jrs “Cold Beer and Beautiful Women are what the Republican Party are for”

lbstewart: @wesleydonehue that’s a pretty bold statement. What’s your reasoning all GOP candidates superior to Dems? Other than own ideology of course

RepBoydBrown: @wesleydonehue (forget Ford is on stage), Dems are offering solutions, GOP reeling off talking points.

wesleydonehue: @lbstewart Are you watching this debate?

mattheusmei: @wesleydonehue — really, that’s like saying “mine is bigger than yours” . They all look like jokes to me.

tylermjones: Wow. Nikki Haley sounding pretty impressive on DHEC. Ahh, but then Mullins brings it back to reality and knocks it out of the park again.

JustinBradley: @Grooms4SCGov Why aren’t you using the hash tag that your candidate encouraged everyone to use? #scdebate

tylermjones: So far – winner of this debate is Mullins McLeod by a long shot. Hes removing rhetoric and offering common sense solutions. Its refreshing

lbstewart: Robert Ford is apparently ready to revitalize and memorialize the Antebellum South thru his moviemaking plan. #scdebate. Embarrassed

wexler: @wesleydonehue Y’all said the same thing in ‘06 and look where it got South Carolina.

tylermjones: Gresham Barrett sounding most sane out of all of the GOP candidates. But that’s not saying much. Grooms sounds (and looks) like Glenn Beck.

willmaxey: @tylermjones he is also repeating his tired “get rid of politics and rhetoric” bit every turn…while using rhetoric to convince us of this

willmaxey: @tylermjones but he made a great point about appointing a professional to head up DHEC!

wesleydonehue: @wexler Looks like people are eating what the GOP is cooking. Aren’t you in Virginia?

RepBoydBrown: does Henry practice that accent in the mirror?

wexler: @wesleydonehue Nope, I’m safe and sound in DC. Obama won my ward with 82% last year.

lbstewart: Will Robert Ford hire me at his new film studio? #scdebate

RepBoydBrown: Need to keep a bottle of aspirin on hand next time I listen to Gresham Barrett

RJShealy: hear Robert Ford is winning the debate

tylermjones: I think Andre just said (in a roundabout way) that children are a burden on our educational system. Odd.

lbstewart: Gresham B seemed to get a giggly kick out of Andre’s comment that he can help him in the Bauer administration #scdebate

lbstewart: Larry is getting quite…emotional…

tylermjones: Ok so Larry Grooms just went all howard dean on us.

RepBoydBrown: God Bless Robert Ford, the self-proclaimed “greatest senator in American history”

JustinBradley: Very interesting, but good debate between the candidates for SC Governor. #sctweets

willmaxey: for having 5 GOP candidates and 5 Democratic, that debate was incredibly civil

According to a tweet from The State’s John O’Connor, Lt. Gov. André Bauer has opened his account to enter the race for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Several weeks ago, Bauer said that if Gov. Mark Sanford didn’t resign from office by sometime in October, he would jump into the race. As of right now (Thursday, 4:47 p.m.), the account is not popping up on the State Ethics Commission site, but it should be coming along shortly.

The move completes the heavy-hitter triumvirate of GOP gubernatorial hopefuls, including U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett and Atty. Gen. Henry McMaster. Though Bauer has been bringing in a good amount of money into his lieutenant governor account, he’s still trailing the other two in fundraising, who have brought in over $1 million each.

UPDATE: The disclosure report is up, boys and girls.

Contributions: $16,850
Expenditures: $0
Cash on Hand: $16,850

Notable contributions
Palmetto Signs and Graphics, $500
Signage business
Stop-N-Save, $1,000, $500
Convenience stores
Research Associates, $1,000
Grant writing firm
National Association of Chain Drug Stores, $1,500
Business association