Lt. Gov. Ken Ard says he’s resigning this morning. His statement:
“I want to thank the great people of South Carolina for the incredible opportunity to serve as their Lieutenant Governor. It truly has been an honor and an experience I will never forget. The love and support you have shown my entire family has been humbling and something I will always remember.
“I also want to thank my family, especially my wife, Tammy, and my three children, Jesse, Mason, and Libby. You have lived this experience with me. There were challenges and setbacks, but you were steadfast in your support and were there for me at every turn.
“To those who volunteered and worked on our campaign, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You were always there and never expected anything in return.
“To my staff, I have nothing but praise. Your professionalism and work ethic have been exemplary from day one. You have remained focused on carrying out the duties of our office in spite of other distractions.
“To all of the above and more, I owe a great apology. During my campaign, it was my responsibility to make sure things were done correctly. I did not do that. There are no excuses nor is there need to share blame. It is my fault that the events of the past year have taken place.
“I regret the distraction this has caused for the people of this state, my family, my staff, and other elected officials in South Carolina. It is because of these mistakes that I must take full ownership and resign from the Office of Lieutenant Governor. Once again, I am deeply sorry and take full responsibility for the entire situation.”
Meanwhile, there’s this as well:
State Attorney General Alan Wilson will hold a 1 p.m. news conference today at the State House along with State Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel.
The media event follows the announcement this morning from embattled Lt. Gov. Ken Ard’s office that he will step down from his second-in-command post in the Senate.
Ard, a Florence Republican, is the focus of a state Grand Jury investigation related to his spending of campaign cash.
The assumption is being made (and perhaps confirmed off the record; I don’t know) that the AG’s presser deals with Ard. Maybe it does; maybe it doesn’t. Could be something else. We’ll see.
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I guess I should reconsider running for that District 20 Senate seat at this point, if Courson’s gonna be the new Lt. Gov.
Ard’s announced his retirement; John Courson seems to be the heir apparent. It will be interesting to see how McConnell accomplishes this, since by law the President Pro Tem of the Senate is next in line, at least theoretically.
As THE STATE reported in today’s paper, Senator John Courson is interested in the position. An insider told me last August Sen. Courson would become Lt. Governor, with Richland County Councilman Seth Rose looking to fill the vacated Senate seat. I’m not sure Seth is interested in opposing Democrat Robert Rikard, who announced Monday.
Why would Courson want that job? Seems like a step down. Perhaps he’s looking to challenge Ms. Haley in 2014?
Courson has run for statewide office before. He values being a senator, but its not his end-all-and-be-all the way it is for McConnell. Being demoted to the meaningless, useless job of lieutenant governor would be Glenn’s worst nightmare — even worse that being demoted to governor.
Or you could read FitsNews and find out all the details of what’s been going on.
What’s difficult about understanding how McConnell will deal with this.
1. He resigns as President pro tem
2. The Senate elects Courson to the position.
3. Courson is appointed Lt. Governor
4. The Senate elects McConnell back to President pro tem
McConnell had this all worked out when they threatened to toss Andre Bauer out of office. Rumors are he already has his resignation letter written, he just needs to change the date and sign it.
@ Brad – are you on board if I run? I promise to advertise on your blog, and make sure you get paid on time.
John looks fabulous in purple!
If McConnell doesn’t fulfill his obligation to the SC Constitution, he should be impeached.
Good luck with that.
The only reason I can imagine McConnell submitting to the horror of losing all of his power would be if he thought, as you suggest, that it would be dishonorable to dodge the bullet.
But I suspect he would conclude that it would be a greater dishonor to abandon his sacred post as Supreme Guardian of the Legislative State.
Well, Lt. Gov McConnell it is.
The only way Sen. McConnell will give up power is when someone pries it from his cold, dead hands, if then.
Apparently McConnell is submitting to the horror as news outlets are reporting he is honoring the Constitution by accepting the Lt. Gov job. Perhaps there’s an impeachment effort going on behind the scenes that we don’t know about. Or perhaps the unthinkable, Glenn McConnell really is an honorable man.
Glenn also looks fabulous in purple.
Ard’s quote:
During my campaign, it was my responsibility to make sure things were done correctly. I did not do that.
Ard is not accepting responsibility for his actions! Handing bags of cash to others to hand off to others in a parking lot to create a “groundswell of support” is a willful action. Using campaign funds for personal use, such as football tickets and lodging for the game, buying your missus a dress, buying a big screen HDTV, Playstation, and iPad are willful actions.
I don’t think that he said that in front of the judge because his statement implies that others within his campaign did those actions.