SOUTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR REVERSES COURSE …
After initially vowing to stick with his embattled neo-Confederate advisor, South Carolina governor Henry McMaster abruptly reversed course late Friday – severing his three-decade relationship with scandal-scarred “Republican” political consultant Richard Quinn.
According to reporter Andy Shain of The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier, McMaster has hired former Nikki Haley advisor Tim Pearson as his top strategist for the upcoming 2018 South Carolina governor’s race.
Pearson will serve as McMaster’s general consultant, and in that capacity told Shain that Quinn’s firm – Richard Quinn and Associates – would “not be involved” in the race.
“Good hire for Henry,” one prominent Palmetto GOP activist told us.
Really?
Pearson managed Haley’s 2010 campaign against Democratic S.C. Senator Vincent Sheheen – and managed it poorly. Haley beat Sheheen by a narrow four-point margin (51-47 percent) – in a “Republican” landslide election.
Of the 690,525 votes that Haley received that year, 322,923 of them came courtesy of straight ticket GOP voters. That accounted for a whopping 46.7 percent of her vote total. By comparison, in 2006 former S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford received 601,868 total votes – but only 220,489 of them (or 36.6 percent) came from straight ticket voters.
After guiding Haley to this underwhelming electoral “mandate,” Pearson was chosen as her chief of staff (at an inflated rate of pay, it’s worth recalling).
How did he do?
Not well …
After nearly a year on the job, Pearson guided Haley to abysmal approval ratings – and ultimately had to be replaced by someone more competent.
Banner via S.C. Governor’s Office