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Seventh-term incumbent U.S. congressman Jeff Duncan will not seek reelection to South Carolina’s third congressional district in 2024, according to a news release from his office.
“At some point in a career, one needs to step aside and allow others to bring fresh ideas and abilities into the fight for liberty, just as I have,” Duncan said in the release.
Duncan added he was “proud” of his conservative voting record and his leadership on “fiscal responsibility and energy issues.”
Duncan’s decision comes as he is embroiled in a sex scandal involving a Washington, D.C. lobbyist – and, by virtue of that relationship, a nasty legal dispute with his estranged wife, Melody Hodges Duncan. It also comes as at least one credible challenger was already making moves to run against him in the 2024 Republican primary election.
And as negative ads related to the scandal were already dropping on him …
The decision also sets up an open primary election for this staunchly Republican seat, which runs along the Georgia and North Carolina borders in the northwestern portion of the state. Duncan was first elected to represent the third district in 2010 after his predecessor, Gresham Barrett, stepped down to run for governor.
Prior to Barrett, the district was represented by current U.S. senator Lindsey Graham.
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Duncan is in a public relationship with Liz Williams – a Jackson, Mississippi native and former National Rifle Association (NRA) lobbyist who has allegedly been involved in multiple extramarital extracurriculars in our nation’s capital. However, divorce filings (.pdf) against the congressman claim he committed adultery with “at least one other woman.”
Duncan has also reportedly been sending electronic payments to at least one of these women since news of his affairs became public.
Duncan’s scandal was exclusively reported by this media outlet on September 22, 2023. To his credit, though, the congressman had been handling the drama infinitely better than neighboring U.S. congressman William Timmons, another hypocritical “family values” Republican who has found himself mired in extramarital misadventures. Timmons’ scandal has continued to dominate headlines in the socially conservative Upstate region of South Carolina for the past year-and-a-half – in no small part due to the congressman’s chronic petulance and pusillanamy.
Duncan, on the other hand, kept a low profile in the aftermath of the allegations against him becoming public – although the onset of campaign season threatened to bring them bubbling up to the surface again.
By stepping down, the 58-year-old Greenville, S.C. native has spared himself the indignities of a bruising GOP primary campaign – although he may not be out of the woods as it relates to his conduct pursuant to his alleged extramarital dalliances.
Count on this media outlet to keep our audience up to speed on the latest developments in Duncan’s case – as well providing updates on the field that files to replace him. That reminds me, the filing period for partisan primary races in South Carolina begins at 12:00 p.m. EST on March 16, 2024 and closes on April 1, 2024. Partisan primary races will be held on June 11, 2024, and if no candidate receives a majority of ballots in a given race, then a runoff election will be held two weeks later – on June 25, 2024.
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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 and before that he was a bass guitarist and dive bar bouncer. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and seven (soon to be eight) children.
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8 comments
I wish RINO Ralph Norman would step down. At a minimum, I hope he has opposition in the Primary or even the General election. Ralph has been in beyond his “best by” date.
Not likely. RN is a solid conservative and will be a congressman as long as HE wants to.
I used to think he was a solid conservative. That was before he came out supporting Nikki Haley and voted for Kevin McCarthy for Speaker of the House. Now Ralphie is just another GD RINO.
They all can’t be RINOs. If they were, the word Republican would be meaningless.
None of them, not one single person in the Republican party actually subscribes to what they’ve duped their base into believing.
You are being used, you just aren’t smart enough to see it. They are.
You are the RINO.
They pretty much all are RINOs and yes, the word “Republican” is pretty damn meaningless. It has been so for quite some time. Sorry you are not smart enough to see that.
Amazing seeing all of these old farts jumping ship as Donald makes a second pass at the iceberg.
I remain shocked that in the party of Trump a sex scandal could bring anyone down. Do Republicans just pretend the guy they are voting for to become POTUS is not a serial adulterer and a sex offender, who has molested numerous women and openly expressed lust for his daughter? This is not a rhetorical question. I really do not understand how anyone claiming to be a Christian or believer in traditional Christian family values could ever vote for Trump.
I guess when people tell me they are Christian I need to start asking, Traditional Christian or MAGA Christian? Because they are not the same thing. Trump is far closer to the traditional Christian anti-Christ than he is to Christ.
Hate the poor, hate the foreigner, hate your neighbor, hate your spouse, hate kids, hate old people, hate your party, hate your leaders, hate anyone who isn’t hating as much as you.
That’s what the Cult of MAGA calls their religion. Throw everything overboard if it benefits you.
It’s all fine and dandy until they find themselves being thrown overboard. But that’ll never happen!