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by STACY SHEA
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It hasn’t taken long for Murrell Smith to establish a legacy as Speaker of the S.C. House of Representatives. Some would argue (and not altogether inaccurately) that this legacy was less an instance of him creating one of his own versus one being created for him. In my estimation, Speaker Smith’s early legacy is the byproduct of his own unwillingness to lead – combined with the advent of the S.C. Freedom Caucus.
Speaker Smith assumed the top position in the S.C. General Assembly on the heels of historic wins for Republicans across the Palmetto State. Long-held Democrat strongholds were gradually turning a brighter hue of red as liberal policies continued to result in poor outcomes for South Carolinians. As the House trended further red, though, the policies Republicans were advancing – and the outcomes they were failing to deliver – were not aligned with the increased conservative bent of the average South Carolinian. This led to the establishment of the S.C. Freedom Caucus.
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The S.C. Freedom Caucus began as a small group of conservative legislators in the House. Their mission was to hold the majority party accountable to the promises its members made to voters during recent primary election cycles. In 2023, within a year of SCFC’s existence, House leadership realized they had a serious problem on their hands with this newborn political movement. They attempted to solve this problem by instituting new Republican Caucus rules which would broadly prohibit members from campaigning against each other. When the SCFC refused to play by these rules, House Leadership – led by Murrell Smith – expelled the conservatives from within their own Caucus.
In 2024, as primary elections approached, House leadership pushed a bill which would grant emergency power authority to an unelected health czar. Once again, the Freedom Caucus rose up in defiance to the establishment, galvanizing the grassroots to action and ultimately killing the bill. As a result, House leadership spent millions of dollars in an effort to defeat the Freedom Caucus during the GOP primary election. The result? Laughably embarrassing losses for the establishment and their challengers.
The Freedom Caucus returned stronger than before – not losing a single seat.
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RELATED | SENATE PANEL ADVANCES $290 MILLION TAX CUT
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Now, in 2025, House leadership has once again come face-to-face with the ragtag group of freedom fighters they are so quick to disparage and dismiss – but this time over their own duplicitous tax bill. House leadership spared no expense in promoting their grand tax reform scheme, hinting at it throughout session, hosting events to gush over it, swearing at press conferences to deliver it to the governor’s desk by May 8, 2025 – all for the Freedom Caucus to quickly point out that this was no tax cut: it is at best a tax shift that will hurt middle income earners to the tune of $1 billion.
For all intents and purposes, House leadership is spiraling. Their own caucus is in disarray, their faces are covered with proverbial egg, and their arch-nemesis – the S.C. Freedom Caucus – was the source of it all.
Murrell Smith is only in his third year as speaker, and he does have a legacy – but he didn’t create it and it isn’t one to brag about. His legacy is defined by his own inability to lead and the pesky conservatives who exposed him for it.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
A small business owner, Stacy Shea is the founder of Spartan Woman Training and president of Unbreakable Leadership. She has spent the last ten years working in conservative politics in South Carolina. She is the wife of retired Navy SEAL and author, Thom Shea, with whom she has three children.
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1 comment
As a side note, yesterday 04-09-2025, our House passed the unnecessary and burdensome cell phone bill introduced by Representative Bill Taylor of Aiken/Lexington. This will make it a crime to touch your cell phone while driving. What about those of us who are not wealthy enough to have a new car with an on-screen GPS system built in? Occasionally, I may need to pick up my phone to see that I am on-course or touch it to jostle it back into actively calculating my position and route. This is just one more “reason” for the highway pirates to stop and harass citizens as they go about their day. Supposedly, we will lose $50million in Federal highway funds if we do not pass such a bill. The Federal Highway Administrators have been extorting states for over fifty years with these “pass it or else” dictates. Is this even legal or Constitutional? I hope AG Wilson files suit against the Federales for effectively denying states the right to govern their own affairs with these constant threats to withold highway funds if you do not pass such-and-such law.
Hopefully we have enough people in our Senate who value personal freedom over extortion money.