South Carolinians for Responsible Government has sent mailings in support of Republican candidates Roger Nutt, an engineer facing incumbent Rep. Keith Kelly, and Joey Millwood , a journalist facing incumbent Rep. Bob Walker in June. The group has also sent out a flier supporting Ken Roach, who is running against fellow Republican and retired gas company executive Mike Forrester to challenge incumbent Democrat Ronnie Hart in November.
The candidates supported by South Carolinians for Responsible Government say that group issued its support without their knowledge, but they welcome it. The Responsible Government group's leaders say their organization is being pigeonholed as a single-issue advocate. S.C. law does not require so-called political awareness groups to disclose their donors, so it is unclear who is funding these mailings.
One of the fliers was illustrated with a "cartoon pig" and the other one showed a "a chubby, cigar-smoking man in a suit and tie." Neither Roger Nutt nor Joey Millwood claimed credit for the fliers.
Nutt and Millwood said the first time they saw the fliers was after they were mailed out. Both men have retained the services of consultant Chad Connelly, a board member of South Carolinians for Responsible Government.
But someone else concluded that the fliers were part of a strategy, the Herald said.
Political consultant Wesley Donahue called the fliers a diversion from South Carolinians for Responsible Government's true agenda - putting legislators in Columbia who support school choice. Donahue's client list includes Kelly, Forrester, and state Rep. Scott Talley, who is seeking a Senate seat against Lee Bright and L.B. Watson.
"Look at those mail pieces, and you will know which legislators stand with South Carolina public schools," Donahue said. "Bob Walker, Keith Kelly, Mike Forrester - these are people that stand with Spartanburg County public schools. It's these Ken Roaches and Roger Nutts of the world that have sold their soul to the voucher crowd."
"These guys are being back-funded, and recruited by these out-of-state millionaires who want to experiment on our public schools," Donahue said. "They should have to disclose. Everybody else does. That's what's so dirty about this whole thing."
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Millwood has said that he would not support vouchers but would consider tax credits for parents who opt to send their children to a nonpublic school.
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"School choice itself is a tenet of the Republican Party. So, the concept that parents are given a choice as to how their children are educated is something I would stand behind. The voucher idea, I'm not for. But I would entertain looking at the tax credits," Nutt said.
And the Herald itself identified who might be funding the group in South Carolina, and its fliers.
South Carolinians for Responsible Government has been tied to New York millionaire Howard Rich, who has supported a number of Republican candidates in this state through a variety of organizations and like-minded associates.
In 2006, South Carolinians for Responsible Government sued the State Ethics Commission after its director said it was trying to influence an election and had to disclose financial information. The state Attorney General's Office refused to provide the ethics commission with attorneys, and the case was eventually dismissed.
A bill this year that would have required political awareness organizations to disclose their financial information went nowhere. Neil Mellen, spokesman for South Carolinians for Responsible Government, called forcing a private, membership-supported group to disclose its financial information "ridiculous."
"Group mails fliers on candidates," Herald-Journal (Spartanburg, SC) - May 15, 2008
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