Petition Candidates Fight Long Odds With Passion, Purpose

Regardless of what happens Nov. 6, it seems certain that South Carolina political pundits will look at 2012 as exceptional. 

From the end of South Carolina's "We Pick Presidents" to the state Supreme Court deciding who should and shouldn't be on ballots to multiple lawsuits between parties and candidates themselves, this election season has been filled with turmoil.

Ultimately, hundreds of candidates were tossed from ballots. Many incumbents who appeared to face a tough primary battle cruised to primary victories.

But the challengers weren't done.

A concerted effort by Operation Lost Vote — a group formed by political activists and led by Spartanburg Tea Party organizer Karen Martin — ultimately gathered 300,000 signatures across the state to help get 153 candidates back on November ballots.

Click here to see all the petition candidates.

Martin said part of the success of the petition effort was driven by a general sense of unfairness by voters who heard what happened to the candidates removed from ballots.

“People realized the stakes are much bigger and they see the results of do-nothing legislators and the corrupt Supreme Court,” Martin told Patch.

But getting back on the ballot and winning the race are two very different things.

USC Political Science Professor Mark Tompkins believes that frustration with the status-quo is high.

“It’s not at the level of Operation Lost Trust (a reference to the corruption scandal from 1990), but it’s pretty strong,” Tompkins said.

Still, Tompkins explained that the petition candidates are operating at a disadvantage on a few fronts, not least of which is money.

Candidates who won a primary can now go back to their donors for another round of fundraising for the general election. Petition candidates don’t have that option. In addition, many of them spent significant time and money just gathering the necessary signatures to get on the November ballot.

This circumstance is emblematic of a system designed by incumbents to favor incumbents, according to Martin.

”The petition candidates have been going door-to-door for three months. They were out there in the primaries, gathering signatures to become eligible and now, for the general election,” she said. “They’ve been doing all this while the incumbents are sitting on their cash.

“The petition candidates are tired, but they are extremely motivated,” Martin said.

Going door-to-door is a virtual necessity for the petition candidates since, in the overwhelming number of cases, they don’t have the name recognition as the incumbents.

Also working against petition candidates is the propensity for voters to vote the straight-party ticket, which they’ve done nearly 50 percent of the time in the last two elections according to the S.C. Election Commission. Percentages vary widely by county and even precinct however.

See the attached documents for a county-by-county breakdown of straight party voting.

Tompkins said the fact that this year is a presidential election might not help petition candidates. “There will likely be higher turnout and voters won't know every detail and will respond to name recognition and the party they most identify with,” he said.

Still, it should be noted that the Palmetto State’s most-revered politician, Strom Thurmond, was elected to the U.S. Senate by petition in 1954. Of course, Thurmond had the benefit of both high name recognition and sufficient funding.

Regardless of the number of victories petition candidates actually claim, this year has been a turning point, Martin said.

“What’s happened this year has made the average person look at ethics and judicial reform in a way they hadn’t previously,” she explained. “The long-term good the petition candidates have brought to the state is immeasurable.”

Coming tomorrow: A look at petition candidates across the state.