Palmetto Political Stock Index: 4/8/2025

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Leave it to South Carolina “Republicans” to take something as straightforward as tax reform and screw the proverbial pooch – turning the current legislative session into an east coast iteration of the LaBrea Tar Pits.

The 2025 session of the S.C. General Assembly was supposed to be about providing South Carolinians with long-overdue, broad-based tax relief – and making the Palmetto State more competitive with its regional peers in the process.

Now it’s about Republicans reaping a whirlwind after they allegedly attempted to screw over the middle class. The GOP miscalculation on a modest $216 million tax cut – which happened to include a $1 billion tax hike on middle income earners – is posing a clear and present political danger to rank and file “Republican” members who signed onto this bill. And while there’s genuine disagreement as to the economic utility of the plan (see here and here), politically it has proven to be an unmitigated debacle.

“(Republicans) wound up crapping the bed worse than a laxative-addled lactose intolerant who overindulged on cheese-covered refried beans at a cheap Mexican buffet,” our founding editor Will Folks noted.

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The episode highlights the political impotence of Murrell Smith as House speaker – and makes you wonder when Republican members will rise up and oust those who repeatedly create headaches for them. 

Every Monday, we follow the trajectories of national politicos via the ‘FITSNews Political Stock Index.’ And every Tuesday, we publish the ‘Palmetto Political Stock Index’ – which assesses politicos from our home state of South Carolina, host of the quadrennial “First in the Nation” (for Democrats) and “First in the South” (for Republicans) presidential primaries.

Got a hot “stock tip” for either of these indices? Email Will Folks (here) and/or Mark Powell (here).

Where should you invest your Palmetto political capital this week? To the index…

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HENRY McMASTER

STOCK: FALLING

Does Henry McMaster ever get tired of pushing people for government leadership positions whose views are in direct conflict with the folks who elected him? His track record would suggest he doesn’t…

Forget the shellacking he took over nominating a clone of coronavirus authoritarian Anthony Fauci to become the state’s head health honcho. It seems McMaster has, at least. Because it’s “damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead” with another left-of-center bureaucratic appointee.

This time, it’s Myra Reece, nominated to head the S.C. Department of Environmental Services (SCDES). Like Edward Simmer at the S.C. Department of Public Health (SCDPH), she’s the interim director of the agency she has been tapped to lead. And just like Simmer, her nomination for the full-time gig is providing a troubling peek at McMaster’s true ideological orientation.

Or lack thereof…

In promoting Reece’s candidacy, McMaster recently tweeted a newspaper article singing her praises written by Sammy Fretwell – a favored “journalist” of the eco-radical movement in the Palmetto State.

Was that supposed to help her chances?

McMaster’s leftward lean is disturbing for a politician who is a purported MAGA-phile. But unlike 2023 – when he tapped Democrat Brian Gaines as interim state comptroller – it’s no longer surprising.

McMaster is a definitional lame duck. Constitutionally prohibited from serving another term as governor, the status quo executive doesn’t have to worry what voters think of him anymore.

Clearly, he isn’t…

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ROM REDDY

STOCK: RISING

The news article McMaster blasted out in support of his liberal cabinet nominee was also an attack on Lowcountry businessman Rom Reddy – founder of the new DOGE SC movement. Not that predictable vitriol from the dying legacy media is doing anything to hinder Reddy’s mission to make state government more efficient and accountable…

Reddy seems willing to give voice to things a wide sector of everyday citizens believe – and want to have said. Consider his recent reply to McMaster’s aforementioned tweet: “Governor McMaster, it is an embarrassment to this red state of true Republican citizens that you are now promoting Simmer and his protégé Reece using an article by far-left liberal reporter Sammie Fretwell and his liberal rag The State.”

“I’ll say this much for Rom Reddy,” one South Carolina political strategist told us. “He’s got gumption. He’s never afraid to say the quiet part out loud.”

Having the backbone to repeatedly “go there” has Reddy’s stock rising this week – and if he can get DOGE SC fully up and running in the Palmetto State, expect him to be a fixture on this index.

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ALAN WILSON

STOCK: FALLING

While polling shows him consistently at the top of the GOP field for governor of South Carolina in 2026, we’re recording a falling rating this week for S.C. attorney general Alan Wilson. And that downward notch stems from his day job – not from anything that happened on the campaign trail.

The attorney general’s office – which Wilson has headed for fourteen years – currently has egg on its face. Last summer, lawyers for convicted double murderer/confessed financial fraudster Alex Murdaugh formally requested a retrial based on allegations of jury tampering.

Wilson’s office sought—and was granted—a 90-day extension in responding to that appeal. When that expired, Wilson sought—and was again granted—a 120-day extension. Now, come April 2025, Wilson is requesting a second 120-day delay. If granted, a full year would have elapsed by the time the attorney general responded to Murdaugh’s appeal.

Ordinarily, ho-hum… right? Right. But Murdaugh’s downfall sparked an international sensation, meaning this is no ordinary case. Also, Murdaugh’s appeal not only has merit – many who have followed the drama closely believe it is likely to be granted (if not by the state, then by a federal appeals court).

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Somebody was feeling froggy… pic.twitter.com/qSe9HMlhaU

— FITSNews (@fitsnews) April 7, 2025

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In the meantime, Murdaugh’s lawyers blasted Wilson for being lazy.

“(The state) requests a second extension… because it has not been working on this case at all,” they wrote.

Ouch!

Look, we get Wilson’s office has a lot on its plate these days. But with 90 lawyers under one roof, you’d think at least one of them could’ve found the time to file a response to this appeal. Wilson has skin in the game, too. He inserted himself directly into the Murdaugh case by appearing alongside prosecutors in the courtroom each day – even examining a key witness for the state during the trial.

In fact, the guilty verdicts entered against Murdaugh helped cement Wilson’s standing at the top of the GOP field.

But the ongoing delay from his office in responding to a credible appeal is a distraction he and his campaign don’t need. When Wilson eventually announces his candidacy – as he is expected to do later this spring or early summer – he’ll want the conversation to be about his goals for the office he hopes to occupy, not about the performance of the office he’s leaving.   

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S.C. FREEDOM CAUCUS

STOCK: RISING

A few years ago, conservative members of the S.C. House of Representatives’ “Republican” supermajority were upset. GOP leadership was demanding they betray their core principles of limited government, less spending and greater economic opportunity for all South Carolinians. When they refused to dance to the “uniparty” tune, they were unceremoniously drummed out of the Republican Caucus.

In that moment, the S.C. Freedom Caucus was born. This scrappy band of fighters proceeded to fulfill its promise of being just as conservative in office as they’d been when running for office. Leadership branded them as “nuts” and “crazies” and tried to minimize and ostracize them.

When none of that worked, they used wads of special interest cash to try and snuff out the infant movement in its cradle. They brought out the big guns and spent millions of dollars trying to take Freedom Caucus members out in the June 2024 primary. Not only was every member renominated, the group even picked up a few seats.

At its moment of peak triumph, though, the caucus’ momentum came to a screeching halt. In early August, as reported first on FITSNews, federal law enforcement executed a search warrant on the home of RJ May III – former Freedom Caucus vice chairman (and the consultant who helped elect numerous members of the group to their seats).

Any time the feds roll deep into your driveway it’s not good, but the subject matter of this investigation – alleged child pornography (a.k.a. child sex abuse materials, or “CSAM”) – only worsened the fallout.

In the last few months, the Freedom Caucus has managed to rally and recover. It has regained its footing and continues to be a driving force for conservative principles at the S.C. State House. Most recently, it exposed profligacy in the “Republican” budget – and last week it was among the first groups to sound the alarm about the punitive aspect of leadership’s ill-conceived tax reform proposal.

The caucus may not enjoy anything close to numerical superiority in Columbia, but its willingness to consistently stand on principle is resonating with the GOP primary base – despite ongoing efforts by “Republican” leaders to blunt the group’s effectiveness.

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