SC

Haley Challenger Wasting Little Time …

INTRODUCTIONS ARE ABOUT TO BE MADE …  S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley’s newly minted GOP primary opponent is wasting little time ramping up his campaign … Tom Ervin – the Upstate, S.C. attorney and business owner who shocked the Palmetto political world by announcing his candidacy last week – will reportedly…

INTRODUCTIONS ARE ABOUT TO BE MADE … 

S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley’s newly minted GOP primary opponent is wasting little time ramping up his campaign …

Tom Ervin – the Upstate, S.C. attorney and business owner who shocked the Palmetto political world by announcing his candidacy last week – will reportedly begin pouring some of his abundant personal financial wealth into the race as soon as this week.

Sources familiar with the candidate’s thinking tell FITS he plans on recording a “robo-call” to a targeted list of GOP primary voters introducing himself and telling them a little bit about why he’s running.

Other “flag-planting” efforts would soon follow.

Ervin is a mystery to us – coming out of nowhere (with a sizable checkbook) to challenge an incumbent who seemed (seems?) a lock to win herself a second term (despite the chronic incompetence and rank hypocrisy emanating from her administration).

According to his online biography, Ervin is a former two-term member of the S.C. House of Representatives (from Anderson County) as well as a former circuit court judge and S.C. workers’ compensation commissioner. He’s currently an attorney with Kathryn Williams, P.A. – a Greenville, S.C.-based firm run by his wife.

Ervin is also the owner of Ervin Broadcasting, which owns three radio stations based in Anderson, S.C.

What will come of this challenge?

Who knows …

Haley backers tell FITS Ervin is a “hard core liberal” masquerading as a Republican … which if true would make him, well, no different than Haley. Seriously – on taxesspendingeducation and (most notably) government-subsidized health care – Haley has governed like a Democrat.

In other words Ervin won’t have to go very far to find room on her right flank …

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31 comments

John April 1, 2014 at 11:13 am

I wouldn’t be surprised if this isn’t just an effort to damage her during primary season as an assist to Sheheen. I would never have believed him to be a Republican.

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Mad as Hell April 1, 2014 at 2:09 pm

She needs no help to damaging herself.
She was a mistake, with her lies, failures, self aggrandizement, lack of leadership, and incompetent appointments!
Obama was a mistake, his re-election was a greater mistake! Let’s not make the same mistake with Haley! Can you even imagine how bada Haley lame duck second term would be? Just like Obama! I see the two of them, as ONE in the same.
No thank you!

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nitrat April 1, 2014 at 3:13 pm

Why not? Is he not stark, raving mad with a helping of ignorance thrown in?

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Pete April 1, 2014 at 11:24 am

Tom is a fair, honest and politically moderate man. In 1999, he was one of the first to expose Jean Toal as a fraud and corrupt self serving old time Democrat. Toal has done all she could to discredit him through the years.

Tom is far superior to Haley or Sheheen. .

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Long time friend April 1, 2014 at 1:34 pm

Amen Pete!
I’ve known him for 35 years!
I campaigned for Haley and contributed to her before. I’m now repenting for my sin and correcting my mistake.
I worked closely with her, for a while and found her extremely dishonest, self serving and all about her and her advancement!
She needs to go!
I will be contributing to and working for Ervin!

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miss suzanne April 2, 2014 at 10:29 am

Is that you, Michelle? Or Tim?

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thatdigiguy April 1, 2014 at 2:41 pm

Having grown up in the Anderson area, I have a VERY VERY difficult time believing any “successful” business person in Anderson is not corrupt.

Sorry.. there is a lot of dirty footwork in Anderson….

He might be clean. but he’d be the first I’d know, in more than 40yrs…

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guest April 1, 2014 at 11:42 am

Check his political giving history at followthemoney.com and you find he has given tons of money to republicans for years (even Sanford several times). In 2010 he gave over $12,000 to a bunch of republicans running for office, but not Haley.
Unless he recently traveled back in time to give all that money away, that is a pretty elaborate cover story.

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John April 1, 2014 at 11:47 am

I’m not saying he has not given money to Republicans over the years, and I’m not alleging that he is running as a joke. I just can’t imagine he thinks he will beat Haley. Maybe his intent is to help Vincent, a fellow trial lawyer, win and create a better climate for his Tom’s wife worker’s comp practice. Between Sanford and Haley, the Workers Compensation Commission has gotten extremely conservative, making it much harder for these lawyers to get money for their clients (and, of course, themselves).

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Matthew April 1, 2014 at 5:28 pm

Please do check his history of giving. Just don’t stop at 2010. Go back to 2004 at least where he gave 10K to the state democrat party. He was planning on running for Governor then as a dem. then the speaker resigned from the SC house and changed his mind and ran in SC house 24. Maybe he has changed his stripes. Or maybe he is giving so much to the GOP because they are running the show now instead of the dems

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CNSYD April 1, 2014 at 11:51 am

Sic Willie has told us over and over that Anderson County is the land that time forgot. So how can we take this seriously?

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Upstate SC April 1, 2014 at 2:11 pm

Tom Ervin is one of the FEW things going for Anderson County!
I Will be a proud supporter! He is head and shoulders above Haley!

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EJB April 1, 2014 at 3:50 pm

not withstanding just about anyone of any stature is “head and shoulders above Haley”.

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ELCID April 1, 2014 at 11:58 am

If he’s honest, he’s the man.
Anybody but Haley is a great campaign ad.

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Fun w/ Politics April 1, 2014 at 12:00 pm Reply
John April 1, 2014 at 12:03 pm

That site is a joke. It is nothing more than a circle jerk for Haley and Harrell.

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Fed up with lies April 1, 2014 at 2:14 pm

I see the Haley hatchet handlers and spinners (liars and propaganda masters) are out in force!

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HD April 2, 2014 at 8:17 am

Oh dear! It appears that he made contributions to Alan Wilson totaling $7,000 when the max is $3,500. But – the contributions were $3,500 in the primary cycle and $3,500 in the general cycle. What difference does that make? I’m glad you asked. It means the contributions were perfectly legal.

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The Granite halls April 1, 2014 at 12:28 pm

Haley is full of BS! I know that comes as a shock to few people after her DOR breach, Savanna River sellout, DSS disaster, Employment Workforce failure, Budget and Control Bd power grab, campaigning while on tacpayer funds, using security detail as goffers and lackeys, lying about lexington medical center and Wilbur Smith bribes and on and on!!!
I can tell you Tom Ervin is No liberal!he is as honest and conservative, as we come!
I’ve known him for 35 years and always found him to be above reproach, honest, with moral and ethical foundation !
Haley is a liar and i can vouch for some of her dishonesty!
Why did people tell me of her affair with Will Folks in 2007. SHE WAS A NOBODY! A SECOND TERM HOUSE MEMBER, ON NOBODY’S RADAR FOR HIGHER OFFICE!
They told me because it was true!n Another Haley lie!!!

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nitrat April 1, 2014 at 3:11 pm

These are not just Haley embarrassments, they are Sanford/Haley incompetence for the last 12 years.
The problem is the voters.

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Yellowdog April 1, 2014 at 1:32 pm

Anderson County is the land that time forgot. A democrat of 32 years switched to being a republican because “it’s a powerforce”. I’m a democrat and that just pisses me off. Granted this is only the Probate Judge race, but it pisses me off. Be who you are! Tom is a moderate I voted for him as a democrat years ago. Now he’s flipping.

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FED UP April 1, 2014 at 1:40 pm

Most all of your current day Republicans were Democrats years ago, so what is new?
The Democrat party left most of us and we were not brain dead enough to continue to follow failure and too blind to not see the wrong way!
Most of us were in that boat and left gladly and willingly.
I’m supporting Ervin.

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ReElect Nikki April 1, 2014 at 8:45 pm

So you became a Republican eh?And you’re seriously saying you are not brain dead?Smell the roses Skippy!

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Rocky April 1, 2014 at 1:33 pm

Humph! He’s got his own money to spend, and his own radio stations to advertise on. I’d be very concerned.

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Thomas April 1, 2014 at 1:47 pm

You can bet your bippy he will work well with the General Assembly. Some folks in the GA had to have known he was going to run. The Question for me is, who is the LT Gov candidate he is bankrolling? One of the Lt Gov candidates are in the know says the Cheyenne in me. In 2018, the Gov/Lt Gov are running mates. This has the makings of a well planned assault against Gov Haley. As far as the open primary, Democrats will determine the winners and losers.

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Rocky April 1, 2014 at 3:04 pm

I don’t see a whole lots of glowing endorsements for Haley here. Will this primary damange her enough to give the Dems a chance? We’ll see. Tune in later for Dim-whitta against the Machine.

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michelle April 1, 2014 at 3:37 pm

The truth about the “family business” would be very empowerering to a candidate.

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euwe max April 1, 2014 at 3:47 pm

Is it more important to punish Haley by voting in her twin, than to seem to condone her by voting her back in?

Neither way changes things, but voting her out at least says something was wrong.

Is there something in the air out there? You folks don’t seem to be able to have *any* effect on the political machine in your state.

There should be a self destruct clause in every state constitution that could be invoked at any time through a referendum, that flushes the whole thing down the shitter and starts over.

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CharlesDikkens April 1, 2014 at 5:21 pm

Tom Ervin is an intelligent, honest, thoughtful gentleman whose integrity would do wonders for the morally bankrupt Republican Party in SC. For one thing, he hasn’t had an adulterous affair with Will Folks and then lied his ass off about it. He didn’t screw Larry Marchant while on a drunken one night statnd at a bogus out of state trip. He hasn’t commited ethical violations, or misused State resources for personal political gain. He hasn’t staffed state agencies with incompetent hacks, fools or lazy fat assed losers. He didn’t allow the State DoR to get hacked and then lie about that for two weeks until exposed. He didn’t sabatoge our Port in order to get 15 minutes on national TV. He hasn’t been sued and he hasn’t wasted hundreds of thousands of state dollars defending indefensible decisions. He is not a “hard core liberal.” Neither is he a nut case from Lexington County. He is not an immoral corrupt frat boy from Charleston. He is not a closetted homosexual or a petty thief. He does not snort or sell coke or consort with prostitutes. He is not a religious fundamentalist who wants to pass laws mandating creationism be taught in schools, or cursive, or how to be nice to gay people. He would be the best Republican governor since Campbell and would gain national attention for his intellect and integrity instead of his antics. He has my vote and if any of you reading this have any sense, he will have yours too.

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west_rhino April 2, 2014 at 9:13 am

a RINO is a RINO is a RINO, be it “upstate cracka'” or Midlands non-white or red neck or PeeDee party changer.

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scottyj April 2, 2014 at 11:15 am

One thing for sure Catherine will run the show if he gets it.

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