Bob Walker’s Strange Bedfellows

Some stories are so layered with irony it’s tough to figure out where to start …

Take the sour grapes effort that soon-to-be former S.C. Rep. Bob Walker is currently mounting in Spartanburg County in a desperate attempt to hang onto his House seat – which he lost to Republican Joey Millwood in this year’s GOP primary.

Since South Carolina’s “sore loser” law prohibits Walker’s name from appearing on the ballot November 4, he’s running a write-in campaign, although we suspect Spartanburg residents will be surprised to find out who’s really behind his candidacy.

The group is called “Citizens For A Better Spartanburg County,” and the circumstances surrounding its creation offer the first of many ironies which we’ve uncovered about this 48-hour-old organization.

According to documents obtained by FITS, “Citizens For A Better Spartanburg County” incorporated on October 28 – or precisely one week prior to the November 4 election.

We found this interesting for a group whose stated mission is to “promote public education in Spartanburg County,” because educrats in South Carolina have repeatedly criticized other third party organizations for failing to disclose their donors. They’ve also attacked legal donors for contributing money that wasn’t disclosed prior to election day.

Nonetheless, this was group formed on this specific date precisely to avoid detection prior to November 4 – so that voters will have no way of knowing who contributed to the group or how much it spent until after the election.

How can they do that?

Well, state law only requires that “Citizens For A Better Spartanburg County” report its contributions and expenses ten days after spending or receiving its first $500 – which means that its first disclosure won’t be due until three days after voters go to the polls.

Of course, educrats using the same tactics they’ve bashed in the past really isn’t all that surprising.

What is surprising is the group that’s backing Walker’s write-in candidacy.

In fact, it’s likely to knock the socks off of largely social conservative Spartanburg.

According to records obtained by FITS, the permit for the mail pieces “Citizens For A Better Spartanburg County”  belongs to a company called Campaign Research & Strategy, a Democratic political consulting firm based in Columbia, S.C.

This firm is owned by Nigel Mahaffey and Tige Watts, two men who – according to their Facebook pages – are gay lovers.

Additionally, Watts was previously the editor of In Unison, the largest gay and lesbian magazine in the Southeast, as well as a board member of the S.C. Gay and Lesbian Business Guild and the S.C. Gay & Lesbian Pride Movement.

Obviously, we’re not making any judgments as to Mahaffey and Watts’ lifestyle choice – in fact our website has consistently supported extending benefits to same-sex couples and we opposed a recent “defense of marriage” amendment on the grounds that South Carolina already had a law on its books banning gay marriage.

Nor are we suggesting Mahaffey and Watts are interested in making a “Bob Walker sandwich,” although it frankly wouldn’t surprise us if Bob was receptive to that notion.

All we’re saying is that it’s a little odd for a recently-defeated Republican to have such a left-of-center consulting firm send out mail pieces, e-mails and robo-calls on behalf of his write-in campaign – in Spartanburg, S.C., or all places.

We asked the group’s founder, Beverly Calloway, about this disconnect, figuring that as the group’s “front person” – and as a preschool teacher at a Spartanburg-area Christian school – she might be able to provide us with some insights.

Calloway acknowledged that Mahaffey and Watts were indeed behind the pro-Walker propaganda, but seemed incredibly irked that the information was about to become public.

“I prefer not to talk about who we are using,” she told us. “I don’t have any comment on that.”

Calloway also refused to provide any information whatsoever regarding the group’s contributions or expenses, saying only that “Citizens For A Better Spartanburg County” was supporting Walker because he was the “legislative education chairman” and was “married to a former school teacher.”

Obviously, Calloway didn’t want to talk about Walker’s pro-union and anti-accountability positions, or his “D” rating on fiscal conservative votes.

Nor did she care to discuss any of the attacks her group made against Millwood.

Frankly, we think it’s sad enough that Walker is mounting such a campaign to begin with, and sadder still that his supporters have gone to such great lengths to hide the men – and the money – behind it.

Hopefully, Spartanburg voters will elect Joey Millwood and end this charade on November 4.

Comments

Trackbacks

• Rick Beltram, Spartanburg GOP File Lawsuit Against Walker - The Conservativist