Scarborough Withdraws Election Appeal

It’s over …

After taking the holidays to think it over, former S.C. Rep. Wallace Scarborough has decided not to move forward with his appeal of an Election Commission ruling in his contested race against Democrat Anne Peterson Hutto.

Scarborough’s hearing had been scheduled for tomorrow before the House Election Law Subcommittee, but the former Charleston lawmaker authorized his attorneys today to withdraw his appeal of the commission’s December ruling, which upheld Hutto’s narrow election day victory.

Previously, Scarborough had argued that hundreds of ballots in the race had been cast illegally, and that the number of illegal ballots exceeded Hutto’s margin of victory.

In fact, as recently as last week it seemed that Scarborough’s appeal was picking up momentum.

At the end of the day, though, it wasn’t meant to be.

Sources told FITS bluntly that Scarborough “didn’t have the votes.”

“At least fifteen Republicans were going to vote against him,” one lawmaker told us. “The numbers just didn’t add up.”

Ironically, we were among the first to congratulate Rep. Hutto on the news, speaking with her shortly after she received the news from one of her attorneys.

Needless to say, she looked happy.

WEB EXTRA:

Scarborough Statement Withdrawing His Appeal

Hutto Statement On Scarborough’s Decision