Source - The State On a sunny day in March, about a hundred older people gathered on the State House steps — those that could, anyway — to ask state lawmakers for $5 million to help keep 8,000 seniors out of nursing homes. They got $200,000. But three days after the rally something important happened: Ken Ard — the lieutenant governor and the head of the state Office on Aging — was indicted and resigned. That forced then-Sen. Glenn McConnell to become the lieutenant governor, … [Read more...]

Source - WLTX Glenn McConnell will succeed Ken Ard as the next Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina. In a statement issued just before noon, McConnell confirmed he would take his constitutionally mandated elevation to that position. "This has been one of the most difficult decisions I have faced," McConnell said in a statement. " Ard resigned his post earlier in the morning. South Carolina's Constitution says that the Senate Pro Tempore--McConnell's previous position--must become … [Read more...]

Source - The State Republicans will meet behind closed doors today to try to unite behind one candidate to be the new leader of the state Senate. State senators then are expected to vote publicly, on the Senate floor, on that senator’s elevation to Senate president pro tem and also swear in state Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, as the state’s new lieutenant governor. At least for the moment, today’s events will mark the culmination of days of State House drama following Lt. … [Read more...]

Source - Midlands Connect South Carolina Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell says he will be the next lieutenant governor in South Carolina. The Charleston Republican will take over from Ken Ard, who resigned Friday morning amid a criminal investigation into whether he spent campaign money on personal items. In a statement about the move McConnell said, "I have a moral obligation to my oath of office and to the constitution of this state. It is an obligation that compels me to do … [Read more...]

(Columbia, SC) Senator McConnell provided the following statement concerning the lawsuit filed to prevent the State Election Commission from conducting the 2012 Presidential Primary. “I continue to believe that the express language contained in South Carolina Code Section 7-11-20 is unambiguous and that it only gives the State Election Commission the power to conduct the 2008 Presidential Primary. Absent further legislative action regarding Presidential Primaries and that code section, I … [Read more...]

Columbia – Senator Glenn McConnell, President Pro Tempore of the SC Senate, has named the members of the subcommittee tasked to consider his “Fiscal Fitness” agenda that consists of legislative initiatives to place a Constitutional cap on state spending, conduct a streamlining review of state government, enact a taxpayer fairness act, a deficit prevention act, and a trust fund protection act. Senator McConnell will chair the subcommittee whose members include: Senator Tom Davis, … [Read more...]

Source COLUMBIA -- Where the new 7th Congressional District will be drawn is still up in the air. The state picked up the extra seat in Congress because of the growing population, but South Carolina lawmakers cannot decide where it should go. One plan puts the new seat in Horry County, along the North Carolina border and swinging into the heart of the Pee Dee, leaving the 1st District mostly as is. The competing plan keeps Charleston County in the 1st District, but draws Berkeley and … [Read more...]

(COLUMBIA, SC) - Following the decision by the S.C. Supreme Court to void Governor Haley’s recent executive order, Senator Glenn McConnell sent a letter to the members of the South Carolina Senate informing them that the Senate would be returning on June 14, 2011 as scheduled, pursuant to the provisions of the unanimously adopted Sine Die Resolution. He also informed the members that he would offer an amendment to the Sine Die Resolution to add the Department of Administration bill to the … [Read more...]

Mark Keel lost out three years ago on the job he worked a career to achieve, but got a welcome back to SLED on Wednesday from Gov. Nikki Haley. And Haley said she’ll likely select Highway Patrol Col. Kenny Lancaster as interim director of the Department of Public Safety, which Keel is credited with reforming during his time away from the State Law Enforcement Division. The patrol is the largest division of the public safety agency. Keel, 53, is widely viewed as having resurrected the … [Read more...]