SC Politics: House Candidate Denied Breathalyzer, Argues, Arrested

A Florence County 21 year-old, who is also the Democratic candidate for House District 63, spent the weekend in jail after a bizarre incident late last week.

WIS-TV and other media outlets say that Austin Smith approached police officers outside the Taboo Bar in Florence early Friday morning while they were investigating a fight and asked why they were there.

The police told Smith to go back inside, but he did not. Instead, he demanded a field sobriety test, which the police initially ignored. But Smith persisted and police placed him under arrest for public drunkenness.

Police say Smith claimed to have been drinking for 12 hours, which was “routine” for him on Thursdays.

During the summer, Smith was arrested for underage drinking, as he was charged for consuming alcohol prior while still 20 years of age.

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Elsewhere in South Carolina politics, Republicans and Democrats spent Monday criticizing trial lawyers.

The SCGOP called a press conference to highlight the influence of trial lawyers on the electoral process. Chair Chad Connelly claiming that Senate and House candidates Robert Rikard (Senate 20), Beth Bernstein (House 78) and Joe McCulluch (House 75) are trial lawyers with ties to state Democratic Chair Dick Harpootlian, who is also a lawyer. Connelly also criticized the Democrats for trying to run as fiscal conservatives, calling it “The greatest con since ‘New Coke.’”

The Democrats quickly countered with a release of their own. Noting that three former presidents of the Trial Lawyers Association have raised money for members of the Richland GOP, most notably Pete Strom who recently held a fundraiser for John Courson, the incumbent Rikard is challenging.

Harpootlian said that Connelly appears to have come down with a case of Romnesia plaguing the GOP’s presidential candidate Mitt Romney, adding,”

“Chad, people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.”

Election day is Nov. 6.