Wade drops out of US Senate race
Rick Wade, a former Obama administration official and cabinet head under Gov. Jim Hodges, announced Thursday that he will drop out of the U.S. Senate race against Republican Tim Scott, The State reported.
Wade had been the favorite to win the Democratic nomination.
“As a native South Carolinian who cares deeply about the future of our state, I have made the extremely difficult choice to halt my campaign for the United States Senate,” Wade said in a statement.
Gov. Nikki Haley appointed Scott, who had represented the 1st District and became first African-American to represent South Carolina in the Senate, in December 2012.
Scott had a fundraising advantage over Wade, with more than $3 million in cash on hand at the end of the year for his first statewide race. He is unopposed in June’s GOP primary.
Wade’s withdrawal leaves only Democratic candidate Joyce Dickerson, a Richland County councilwoman, to oppose Scott in November.
—Natalie Pita, Assistant News Editor
Bill proposed to repeal SC’s ‘stand your ground’ law
The chairman of the South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus, with the support of several ministers, activists and former police officials, has introduced a bill that would repeal the state’s “stand your ground” bill, The State reported.
State Rep. Harold Mitchell, D-Spartanburg, stressed at a press conference that the new bill would not do away with people’s right to defend themselves with deadly force inside their homes, vehicles and businesses, but it would do away with a legal defense used by individuals who kill or wound people with a knife or gun in public places. The law allows them to argue they used deadly force because they feared for their lives.
State Sen. Karl Allen, D-Greenville, referenced the case of USC student Martha Childress, who was shot and paralyzed in Five Points last fall, in his defense of the bill. Allen said the man who shot Childress will try to claim immunity from prosecution with the state’s “stand your ground” law.
The bill will likely face significant opposition in the General Assembly, which just passed a bill that allows people to take guns into bars and restaurants.
— Natalie Pita, Assistant News Editor
Man incarcerated for selling stolen golf carts
A Lexington County man is accused of stealing golf carts and selling them, The State reported.
Joseph Thomas Morissette, 20, is charged with one count of grand larceny and two counts of obtaining property under false pretenses.
Morissette allegedly sold a stolen 2010 Club Car Precedent valued at $3,200 and a stolen 2004 Yamaha golf cart to a man for $3,400, according to an arrest warrant. Morissette is accused of breaking into Custom Golf Cart and Trailer of Columbia at 855 Chapin Road and loading the two golf carts, worth of $10,250, onto a trailer, Lexington County Sheriff James Metts said.
The warrant also alleges that he sold another stolen 2010 Club Car Precedent golf cart to a man for $2,500.
— Natalie Pita, Asst. News Editor