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by WILL FOLKS
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The ink was barely dry on one of our recent reports on the seedy dalliances of disgraced South Carolina senator Matt Leber when numerous sources started stepping forward alleging the identities of his various paramours.
Leber was publicly exposed by his wife – Charleston County school board trustee Michele Leber – earlier this year for having an affair with political consultant, Rebecca Madsen. He currently finds himself embroiled in a deeper scandal involving Madsen’s rumored political ties – and the alleged influence of the Palmetto State’s influential trial lawyer lobby in his personal life.
Leber, our audience will recall, is one of the GOP lawmakers who surprisingly carried water for this wealthy, entrenched lobby during the recently concluded legislative session in Columbia, S.C.
Stay tuned for additional reporting on what may have motivated his subservience to the trial lawyers… and their apparent interest in keeping the scandal swirling around him under wraps.
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Meanwhile, the Leber paramour allegations have found their way into a hotly contested race for Charleston city council – specifically a district which Republicans are eager to retain.
Incumbent councilwoman Caroline Parker surprised the party two months ago when she announced she would not seek reelection to this district (.pdf) – which encompasses broad swaths of James Island south of the historic Charleston peninsula.
Two Democrats quickly jumped into the ostensibly non-partisan race – including Leslie Skardon, a local nonprofit leader and the wife of former county Democrat leader and failed S.C. Senate candidate Sam Skardon. Also running from the left side of the ideological divide is eco-radical community activist Deanna Miller.
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With two far left candidates in the race, GOP leaders inveighed upon Lowcountry small business owner Annette Begner to enter the fray. Begner is well-known in Charleston Republican circles for her event planning expertise, including organizing the Charleston County GOP’s first-ever Reagan Gala.
A divorced mother of three adult children, Begner bills herself as “the conservative choice” for this district – touting her desire to bring “thoughtful leadership that protects the unique nature of James Island and rejuvenates its current infrastructure.”
According to her, James Island’s infrastructure needs “have been neglected for decades.”
“I will prioritize working with the county and state to fix our roads and crumbling infrastructure,” Begner said. “I will request an audit to understand where our tax dollars have been spent over the last ten years. I also plan to implement new policies that reduce regulatory burdens for small businesses.”
To accomplish those objectives, Begner is touting her relationships with numerous regional and state leaders, alliances she insists will be instrumental in Charleston “getting state and county funding and bringing it back home.”
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Begner’s candidacy has received some high-level endorsements – including SCGOP chairman Drew McKissick and, more significantly, national GOP committeewoman Cindy Costa. Unlike McKissick, Costa hails from Charleston and is a force in Holy City politics.
Also endorsing Begner are numerous local business leaders, including furniture store owner Beth Troyer. Additionally, Begner is backed by Parker – the candidate she is hoping to follow into office.
While James Island voters tend to lean center-left in their ideology, the GOP is hoping to capitalize on a broader rightward rising across the state – which is why they are pushing Begner so hard (and why local Democrat leaders drew a bead on Begner from the moment she entered the race).
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Race-baiting Charleston Democrat chairman Thomas Dixon was among the first to blast Begner – calling her “unapologetically MAGA” and ridiculing her support for Moms for Liberty-backed candidates in local school board races.
“Does this look like someone who will be a voice for you on Charleston’s city council?” Dixon wrote, urging Democrats in James Island and Folly Beach to rally against Begner’s candidacy.
Meanwhile, fundraising has been brisk for Skardon, who is believed to be the top choice of the liberal establishment. As of the most recent campaign finance disclosures, Skardon had collected nearly $77,000 for her campaign – more than five times what Begner has raised.
Begner has pushed back against the Democrat attacks, saying the party’s leaders have “had a hand” in the infrastructure neglect on James Island.
While the far left initiated the sniping against Begner – and moved quickly to fill the campaign war chest of its chosen candidate – Begner has been besieged of late by those within her own party. Specifically, she seems to have landed at the center of the drama surrounding Leber – with several of his former intimates taking to social media to accuse her of having an extramarital affair with the first-term senator.
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“She’s a backstabber who slept with her proclaimed best friend’s husband and then lied about it,” former Leber ally and veteran medical cannabis advocate Jill Swing wrote on Facebook recently. “She cannot be trusted!”
“She cares only about herself,” Swing added. “I’m so sad to see people I respect supporting her for this position just because she’s a Republican. We can, and should, do better!”
This line of attack against Begner has echoed across multiple social media platforms, and is also reportedly manifesting itself in secretive leaflets and anonymous text messages targeting her.
Begner adamantly denied the allegation in a recent interview with Lowcountry radio personality Corey Allen, referring to it as “nonsense and lies.”
“All these people are trying to do is take my campaign down,” Begner told Allen. “They don’t want me to get in there. And the question is ‘why?’ Why don’t they want me to get in there? What are they afraid I’m going to expose?”
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FITSNews followed up with Begner earlier this week after the Allen interview aired.
“I know the truth,” Begner told FITSNews. “I’ve done nothing wrong.”
Begner said the initial wave of allegations – none of which have been substantiated – were incredibly hurtful to her, but she said she didn’t want to address them directly for fear of fueling the story. Begner also confided she didn’t want voters to see that the allegations had upset her – and somehow perceive that as a sign of weakness.
Ultimately, she said the smears empowered her to keep pushing her positive message.
“At first I cried myself to sleep every night,” she said. “But then I realized there’s nothing anybody can say that will hurt me anymore.”
Begner added that while she hopes voters will see the allegations against her for what they are, she’s comfortable with whatever happens at the polls next month.
“I have nothing to hide,” Begner said. “I have nothing to lose. If I do win, I’ll do my best to change things. If I don’t win I’ll go back and live a normal life.”
Charleston’s municipal elections are scheduled for November 4, 2025 – with early voting already underway.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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9 comments
Make it a felony to have affairs while holding public office. Categorize it as a religious pro family law which puts our elected officials, as they reap other laws of protection, on the defensive if moral turpitude is found out.
Here’s the mock law.
Hypothetical Framework for the Law
Title: Public Office Moral Integrity Act
Definition:
The law would criminalize extramarital affairs (adultery) by elected or appointed public officials during their term of office.
Adultery could be defined as engaging in consensual sexual relations with someone other than the official’s spouse while married.
Classification:
Felony Status: Classifying adultery as a felony (e.g., a Class E felony, the lowest felony level in many jurisdictions) would impose penalties such as imprisonment (e.g., 1-7 years), fines, and disqualification from holding public office.
Religious Pro-Family Framing: The law could be justified as promoting family values rooted in religious or cultural traditions, emphasizing the sanctity of marriage and the moral example expected of public officials.
Moral Turpitude: The law could define adultery as an act of moral turpitude, a legal concept often tied to conduct that violates community standards of honesty, integrity, or morality. A finding of moral turpitude could trigger additional consequences, such as impeachment, removal from office, or bans on future candidacy.
Enforcement:
Investigation: Allegations could be investigated by an independent ethics commission or law enforcement, with evidence such as communications, financial records, or witness testimony.
Due Process: Officials would have the right to a fair trial, with protections against false accusations or invasions of privacy.
Penalties: Conviction could result in imprisonment, fines, removal from office, and/or permanent disqualification from public service.
Defensive Posture:
The law would place officials under heightened scrutiny, requiring them to maintain personal conduct consistent with their public role. It could deter behavior by making moral failings a legal liability, leveraging “other laws of protection” (e.g., public trust, ethics codes) to hold officials accountable.
The crime of adultery is already in the SCCOLs.
Sadly, from state government on down to local governments, even the judicial system, is full of slime balls.
Even Will does not know just how bad it all really is. And to the government trolls who read Fit’s reports and even the comments, they are fools.
I feel bad for the woman who succumbed to the affair with the human elephant seal.
Oops wrong comment, I meant that scvote guy who just got busted.
The democrat trolls paid by Leslie Skardon to bully, harass, and smear Ms. Begner know that if the voters rationally evaluate the candidates on the relevant issues, they cannot win, and lose their bonuses.
That’s why they feed the lies. These democrats are vile, disgusting people with no values but the accumulation and maintenance of power.
More loony wannabe political antics from our coastal region. Something must be in the water there, LOL.
What’s in your smoke pipe?
I think it is shit from the Myrtle Beach sewer pipes going into the ocean. Politicos and coastal voters drink deeply from it.
No wonder Charleston is so f’d up. Nothing but women in their politics. It is nothing but a gigantic hen party with all decisions based on fluctuating hormones and emotions.