Sanford to announce run for Congress seat today
It’s official — almost.
Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford will announce today his intent to run for Tim Scott’s vacated seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, Sanford aides told NBC News Tuesday.
Scott was appointed by Gov. Nikki Haley to take outgoing Sen. Jim DeMint’s place in the Senate. DeMint resigned earlier this month to run the conservative Heritage Foundation.
Sanford represented the 1st Congressional District in Congress from 1995 to 2001 before serving as governor from 2003 to 2011. His second term in the governor’s office was marred by a much-publicized extramarital affair scandal.
Filing for the 1st Congressional District seat officially begins Friday, and primary elections will be held March 19.
— Sarah Ellis, Assistant News Editor
Most voter ID notices returned undeliverable
It looks like the state’s controversial voter ID law will face more challenges now that it’s officially been implemented.
Nearly 90 percent of the 205,000 notices mailed by the State Election Commission to registered voters without photo IDs were returned undeliverable, the commission’s Executive Director Marci Andino told The State.
The new law requires registered voters to present a photo ID when casting a ballot unless they have a “reasonable impediment” to obtaining an ID. It went into effect Jan. 1 after a rocky history.
First, the law was blocked by the U.S. Attorney General, then OK’d by a federal three-judge panel in October, which ruled the law did not in effect disenfranchise voters.
The law was used for the first time last week when Branchville, a town in Orangeburg County, held a special town council election. Everyone who showed up to vote had an ID, Andino told The State.
— Sarah Ellis, Assistant News Editor
Man exposes genitals to Waffle House customers
A Lexington man faces a disorderly conduct charge after giving some Waffle House customers a taste of something that was not on the menu.
Steve Fleming, 59, is accused of flashing his genitals to employees and customers at the Augusta Highway Waffle House after he had been kicked out of the restaurant Jan. 4, according to a Lexington County Sheriff’s Department report cited by The State.
The report said an employee asked the man to leave the restaurant because he was sitting at the counter and cursing. The employee said Fleming then exposed himself and, when told the police were on the way, tried to start a fight.
The man told officers he had not exposed himself, though officers noted his pants were unzipped, The State reported.
— Sarah Ellis, Assistant News Editor