The sad soap opera of S.C. Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom continued over the weekend as the incumbent sought to fight back against a threatening to derail his bid for a third term as the state’s accountant.
Eckstrom’s Democratic opponent – Robert Barber – began running a television ad last week attacking the 62-year-old incumbent over a pair of personal issues – a 1997 sexual harassment case that was settled with taxpayer money and his extramarital relationship with a former candidate for State Superintendent of Education.
“Incumbent Comptroller Richard Eckstrom’s job is to protect our money, but Eckstrom spent over $57,000 taxpayer dollars to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit against him,” the narrator of Barber’s ad says.
In an interview last Friday, a spokesman for Eckstrom attempted to downplay the incident – and shift the blame for it onto Eckstrom’s accuser.
“It has been falsely mischaracterized as something to do with sexual harassment,” Eckstrom spokesman Rod Shealy Jr. told Jim Davenport of the Associated Press. “The girl got a bad review and initiated a lawsuit.”
Wait … “the girl?”
Also, isn’t the number one rule of most settlements that you’re not supposed to talk about them?
Anyway, FITS made several attempts to contact Leanne R. Johnson – the woman who initiated the lawsuit against Eckstrom over a decade ago – but our efforts were unsuccessful. Johnson spoke at length about the incident to our founding editor several years ago, however, and described in detail the alleged harassment that prompted Eckstrom to settle the case.
Meanwhile Kelly Payne, a popular local high school teacher and former GOP candidate for S.C. Superintendent of Education, stood by her claim that Eckstrom threatened her during the course of their relationship – an extramarital affair that was first exposed by FITS in February. Payne told FITS on Friday that she is seeking an order of protection against Eckstrom – while Eckstrom’s office insists that no threatening behavior ever took place.
Payne and Eckstrom’s relationship is also mentioned in the Barber ad – with Eckstrom accused of using “state cell phones and computers to send sexually-explicit text messages and emails to his mistress.”
Eckstrom’s office said that Payne was still text-messaging the Comptroller General as recently as Friday morning – although they neglected to point out that Eckstrom was still text-messaging Payne, too, telling her that he didn’t have an “off switch” for their forbidden, highly-combustible love.
Also, here’s a picture of a message Payne posted Sunday evening to Eckstrom’s Facebook reelection page:
***
By Planet S.C. October 25, 2010 at 8:41 am
Nothing a little imodium won’t heal.
By Ed October 25, 2010 at 9:28 am
She’s so hot, too. And he’s so old.
By Darth October 25, 2010 at 9:39 am
So do I detect that Kelly’s been running his facebook group?
By commonman October 25, 2010 at 9:48 am
HE IS THE MAN. Way to go Rich, but get those hormones under control. Keep it up and the taxpayers are going to make you an honest man working in the private sector again.
By Groundball October 25, 2010 at 10:05 am
This is ugly, but then again so is he. Does this mean that Kelly is now supporting his opponent? And he calls himself a “conservative”! It sounds like he should be on the predator list!
By Patrick October 25, 2010 at 10:33 am
Maybe enough stink will stick to him and rub off on his fellow GOP state wide candidate/sex starved pol Nimrata to bring them both down. Great strategy from the Dems, let Barber sling the mud at GOP corrupt values.
By Eyes Open October 25, 2010 at 12:44 pm
It’s about time, too bad the people have forgotten his out of state trips on the taxpayer’s tab, wasn’t that to Michigan or Minnesota? or was it to Dollywood? This man is so sick. He probably could get psychological help but then again, the taxpayers would pay for it like we probably paid for his other women he has chased over the years. And there is no treatment for stalkers and pervs, he’s been at it to long.
By bogart October 25, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Bet Kelly broke up with him before DeMint could make her give up her teaching job.Pretty sure that if he didn’t think unmarried women should teach because they may be sleeping with their boyfriends,he would really be upset if the boyfriend was a married man.
By wayne October 25, 2010 at 1:18 pm
Unusual. Republican male in sex scandal with a WOMAN!
By Huhhh??? October 25, 2010 at 2:57 pm
They’re BOTH loony.
Does that condition afflict ALL republic party candidates these days?
By aspecialtiger October 25, 2010 at 4:59 pm
He did good!! Only cost us taxpayers $57,000. That’s a mere drop in the extremely large bucket that we have been filling up over and over to the tune of over $1,000,000 for our esteemed President/Jim Barker, the ever trustworth BOT, our double dipping Provost/Ms Helms, the General Counsel and a few others to cover their asses while they figured out a way to dispose of Mr. Troutman and the massive incriminating eveidence that he had against him. Now, they are trying to send him to Prison for a computer?? They figure that will be a permanent seal of that Pile of vile actions that he had all of them red handed on!!
Don’t even worry about Eckstrom, his cost to the taxpayers of SC and damage to any institution is Pale in comparison with the cover ups that are going on everyday at our University.
By Groundball October 25, 2010 at 5:16 pm
Huhhh? … Just the career bureaucrats who espouse lower taxes, cutting spending, cutting out the deadwood, etc. and all the time getting all their family income out of public money. Of course, they are the answers, never the problem or the deadwood. Not to mention there are other Eckstroms who are also on the public teat, just as all of the Haley familly income comes from public funds.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a government employee, the vast majority of them bust their butts every day at work, just don’t point fingers at others and question what other candidates do for a living.
I meant to go this weekend to the Tea Party Get Out the Vote rally, but I did see the news film and it seemed like 95% of those in attendance were retired people living off of Social Security and Medicare (usually pay no individual income taxes)complaining about those people on welfare living off the government. I truly believe that every one of them deserve everything they receive each month. Most of these retirees just want to feel like they are a part of something.
The only working age people seemed to be the speakers … candidates and other public employees hoping to profit from the election.
I may be talking out of school about the rally, because like I said, I’m basing it solely on the newscasts panning the crowd.
By CDB October 25, 2010 at 6:37 pm
“She’s so hot, too. And he’s so old.”
Don’t picture that, in excruciating visual and olfactory detail.
By eggaday October 25, 2010 at 8:50 pm
Sic, how come you always put up pictures of Eckstrom and Kellie Payne and you cannot seem to come by even a photoshopped Mark and Maria photograph?
By Dave October 25, 2010 at 11:06 pm
She is majorly looney! Payne dated a friend of mine about six years ago when he was in his early twenties and finishing up at Carolina. She had claimed that she was a widow to get his sympathy and then it was discovered her husband had not in fact died! Both Payne and Eckstrom are creepy to me!
By Alabaster II October 26, 2010 at 4:00 pm
eggaday-Sic has no picture of M @ M because he can’t find them!
By bottomline October 26, 2010 at 4:17 pm
Are we still talking about these people? Seriously, they’re more of attention whores than Sic himself.
By fitsnews October 26, 2010 at 4:19 pm
bottomline,
hey, i resemble that remark.
-sic