Two influential members of the SC General Assembly are at odds with each other over the appointment of a local delegation – with one accusing the other of discriminating against it and making political promises to members of the delegation in exchange for their votes.
The drama began in November, when the former president of the Orangeburg County legislative delegation – state senator John Matthews – concludes its mandate. Matthews, 80, did not run for re-election in 2020 – meaning that his seat in the legislature and his seat in command of the six-person delegation were opened.
Matthews’ legislative seat was filled in the 2020 election, but until this week the delegation post has remained vacant.
Traditionally, the leader of the Orangeburg delegation has been its longest-serving member – who to date is a representative of the state Gilda Cobb-Hunter, who has served in the legislature since January 1992. A former minority leader in the SC Chamber and a senior Democratic member of the media and media committee – who gets his first chance at writing the $ 30 billion budget – Cobb-Hunter exerts enormous influence under the dome of the State House.
She has also been at the center of several high profile leadership difficulties in the past …
Despite Cobb-Hunter’s seniority, however, the Orangeburg County legislative delegation voted 4-2 earlier this month to nominate Brad Hutto – the newly appointed minority leader in the SC Senate – as its president. State representative only Russell Ott from St. Matthews, SC stayed with Cobb-Hunter.
Cobb-Hunter – who served as acting president of the delegation – was outraged by what he called a violation of an old “gentlemen’s agreement”.
“It turns out that Representative Ott and I seemed to be the only gentlemen at the table,” she told us.
“Again, it looks like we have a case where women can carry water, but they can’t drink water, at least not sitting at the head of the table,” continued Cobb-Hunter. “We don’t have to go beyond our neighboring state of Georgia to make that point. Stacey Abrams didn’t just carry the water; she drank, at the head of the table – quenching the thirst of many across the country, changing the appearance of the United States Senate. “
According to Cobb-Hunter, Hutto contacted her on Friday and informed her of his intention to run – and the fact that he had enough votes to secure the position.
“This was somewhat surprising, as he was recently elected minority leader in the Senate and has a difficult job ahead of him to deal with the recent losses of Democratic seats and institutional knowledge in the Senate,” she said.
Cobb-Hunter is referring to the recent “red storm” – in which Democrats lost three seats in the SC Senate. This strangulation led to the resignation of the minority leader in the Senate of SC Nikki Setzler. Considering that most Senate Democrats are black, many politicians expected a black legislator to rise to the top of the party in the Senate.
Instead, Hutto won the position … overwhelmingly.
In fact, this vote deprived the state senator Margie Bright Matthews the opportunity to become only the second minority female leader in South Carolina history – although supporters of Bright Matthews have told us that they “fully supported” Hutto’s election.
According to Cobb-Hunter, Hutto’s election to lead the Orangeburg delegation was “a function of privilege, class and gender”.
“Isn’t it ironic that this power game happens when we end the regime of a president who also doesn’t respect the tradition, the process or the meaning of women’s work?” Cobb-Hunter said.
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Cobb-Hunter told us that he has always been “a firm believer in principle and process” and that the recent vote to elect Hutto shows that his fellow delegation members “do not uphold the principles, do not respect the process and can be easily committed to promises. . ”
We contacted Hutto to find out what he thinks about this claim. According to the veteran legislator, he It’s guilty of making promises to members of the delegation.
“Promises to work together with everyone, inclusion and transparency,” said Hutto.
While Democrats are outnumbered by margins of almost 2 to 1 in both chambers of the SC General Assembly, Cobb-Hunter and Hutto enjoy disproportionate influence due to their seniority, their leadership and committee positions and the fact that most “Republicans” in the South Carolina legislature are fiscal liberals.
In fact, a fiscally liberal majority of left-wing Democrats and “Republicans” – many of them “ex-Democrats” – has ruled the State Chamber for the past two decades.
Last year, the state of Palmetto was recognized for having the most liberal Republican-controlled legislature in America … a reputation that its “republican” majority continues to earn. In other words, although many Democrats claim that their party “cannot afford to fight” because of its small ranks … it seems so.
Hence the battle between Hutto and Cobb-Hunter …
-FITSNews
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Flag: SC House of Representatives
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