CONTACT: Hope Walker: hope@scgop.com
DATE: 4/5/18

SCGOP COMMITTEE UNANIMOUSLY PASSES RESOLUTION DENOUNCING DEMOCRAT RUNNING IN REPUBLICAN PRIMARY

On Wednesday evening, the South Carolina Republican Party Executive Committee held a special meeting via conference call to pass a resolution denouncing one of the candidates that filed to run in the First Congressional District Republican primary.

The resolution points out that Dimitri Cherny is an open Bernie Sanders supporter who was most recently the Democrat Party’s nominee for the same office in 2016.  It calls on Republicans to treat his campaign as a “political stunt” and urges the state legislature to pass legislation enabling political parties to have more control over who can run in their primaries.

South Carolina Republican Party State Chairman Drew McKissick stated, “The single most important thing that political parties can do is nominate candidates for public office, but parties in this state have no legal control over who can file to run for their nomination.  And this guy openly admits he’s running in our primary to give liberals two chances to keep a Republican from winning in November.  It’s insane.”

“People have a right to freely associate with each other to advocate what they believe in, which means that we also have the right “not” to associate with someone as well.  That should include political parties.  It’s another reason why we need the option to register by party in this state.  Unfortunately our election laws don’t recognize that, and it needs to change”, McKissick said.

The resolution reads as follows:

RESOLUTION OF THE SC REPUBLICAN PARTY STATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE FAVORING NEW CANDIDATE FILING QUALIFICATIONS

WHEREAS the 2016 Democrat nominee for South Carolina’s First Congressional District has filed to run as a Republican for the 2018 Republican Primary; and

WHEREAS he continues to be a supporter of liberal Democrat-socialist Bernie Sanders, further underlining that he doesn’t belong in the Republican Party; and

WHEREAS individuals and groups have a right to freely associate with one another to advance their agendas in the public square; and

WHEREAS the most important thing that political parties can do is to nominate candidates for public office, but yet political parties in South Carolina are legally left with NO control whatsoever over who can file to run for their respective party’s nomination for public office;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the South Carolina Republican Party denounces this blatant abuse of South Carolina’s inadequate campaign filing laws by an obvious liberal Democrat, and we call upon Republicans to treat his campaign as the political stunt that it is; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the South Carolina Republican Party calls upon the South Carolina General Assembly to pass legislation that would give political parties the appropriate ability to determine qualifications for certifying candidates to run for their respective party’s nomination, as well as to grant voters the option to join a political party when they register to vote.

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