Bought And Paid For: Carlisle Kennedy Sells Out To Trial Lawyers

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by WILL FOLKS

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One of the key “Republican” votes against comprehensive lawsuit reform earlier this year belonged to newly elected state senator Carlisle Kennedy of Lexington County.

A lawyer-legislator, Kennedy was swept into office last year after GOP primary voters in S.C. Senate District 23 ousted the three-term incumbent, Katrina Shealy, for what they perceived to be insufficiently loyal votes on the hot button issue of abortion.

Kennedy ran as a fiscal and social conservative, claiming to be “someone who is in touch (with) and will work with all the citizens across the county; someone who is personally invested in the future and well-being of our community.”

He also pledged to “restore trust and confidence in this elected position.”

How has Kennedy repaid his constituents’ trust in him? By becoming a shill for the Palmetto State’s über-liberal trial lawyer lobby. Via his votes and floor speeches, Kennedy servilely sold out to one of the most destructive forces in all of South Carolina politics – a wealthy, well-heeled special interest bent on securing its dominance while driving dozens of small businesses out of business.

All while imposing a massive financial burden on individual citizens…

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Recent studies have shown South Carolina’s notoriously litigious tort climate imposes a weighty “tort tax” – or “lawsuit tax” – on Palmetto families which totals anywhere from $3,200 to $3,600 annually, per family.

Despite this, Kennedy repeatedly voted to preserve the Palmetto State’s unfair, anti-competitive lawsuit regime.

Why? Because that regime was stuffing his pockets…

According to campaign finance reports published this month by the S.C. State Ethics Commission (SCSEC), Kennedy was well compensated for betraying the best interests of his constituents.

From January 31, 2025 through March 21, 2025 – the exact period during which the lawsuit reform debate was raging at the S.C. State House – Kennedy received a total of 33 contributions from current or former attorneys, law firms and other individuals employed by law firms. All told? His campaign organization raked in $25,000 – the vast majority of it coming from individuals and entities based outside of his ultra-conservative district.

Kennedy’s haul from other interests? A modest $4,000. Curiously, no insurance industry contributions appeared on Kennedy’s disclosure – even though he told us last month he had been accused of “taking money from the insurance lobby.”

Be advised: none of those disclosed totals are likely to approach the massive amount of money trial lawyers have spent (or pledged to spend) on third party communications. Nor does it include future contributions or new legal business that could wind up being magically steered to Kennedy’s firm.

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RELATED | LEGISLATIVE TYRANNY ROLLS ON

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Of interest? The total on Kennedy’s latest disclosure was approximately one-half of the $50,000 state senator Tom Fernandez claimed to have been offered by trial lawyers to oppose a comprehensive lawsuit reform bill advanced earlier this year by S.C. Senate majority leader Shane Massey.

Is the other half coming next quarter?

Fernandez, who later amended his remarks, joined Kennedy and several other “Republicans” in voting in lockstep with the trial lawyer lobby throughout this debate – killing Massey’s bill in favor of a watered down “compromise.”

Reformers told us throughout the process they simply “didn’t have the votes.”

Now we know why…

This isn’t just a lawsuit reform problem, though. As I noted throughout the tort debate, expanding trial lawyer influence over the S.C. State House is a cancerous growth on the Palmetto body politic. Regular members of our audience are well aware of the pernicious influence lawyer-legislators wield over the state’s supposedly “independent” judiciary – and the limited success reformers have had in fixing this rigged system. Our audience is also well aware of the extent to which ostensibly “Republican” lawmakers have installed far left Democrats to key positions within the judiciary – including former S.C. chief justices Jean Toal and Donald Beatty.

FITSNews reached out to Kennedy for comment for this story but did not immediately receive a response. In the event we hear from him, we will update our coverage accordingly. Also, we reminded Kennedy – as we would remind everyone – of our commitment to the open microphone principle (i.e. allowing those with perspectives different from ours to share them directly with our audience).

In fact, one senator we criticized on this very issue availed himself of that microphone just last month…

As we approach Good Friday, though, Kennedy’s campaign finance disclosure revelation is especially timely. Whatever the amounts, whatever the dates and whatever the sources of those contributions… the bottom line is this: when elected officials act in a manner inconsistent with the best interests of the citizens they represent, they betray their trust.

Which means whatever the total, it ultimately adds up to thirty pieces of silver…

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UPDATE |

Here is senator Kennedy’s response…

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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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