Lawmaker Calls for GOP Chair's Resignation

With , there is another battle brewing within the beleaguered Dorchester County Republican Party.

The day before the S.C. Supreme Court dismissed the case against GOP nominee Sean Bennett, S.C. House District 98 Rep. Chris Murphy called for the resignation of the county party's Chair Carroll Duncan in an email to supporters Tuesday. Murphy said Duncan had crossed over the line and was openly supporting incumbent Sen. Mike Rose, who was defeated by Bennett in the June primary, through her court actions. 

"She needs to resign," Murphy said. "I'm calling on the executive committee to remove her as chairperson if she will not resign."

Murphy is a lawyer in the case, representing former party election filing officer Tony Piscatella, who was admonished by a circuit court judge for improper handling of filing documents but not punished. ()

The recent call for Duncan's resignation stems from the appeal made by Rose. In that case, Bennett filed a motion to dismiss based on disenfranchising the voters that elected him the GOP nominee. Duncan filed a motion against the dismissal, saying the question was not whether or not Bennett won the most votes, but whether or not Bennett complied with S.C. election law. 

"What you have is the head of the Republican party, the chair person ... who, in my opinion, is attempting to circumvent the will of the people," Murphy told Patch. "It's a conflict of interest that calls into question her ability to lead the Republican party, it calls into question her motives ... She doesn't have a dog in the fight regarding Mike Rose's appeal, yet she (was) attempting to bolster Mike Rose's appellate argument by submitting an appellate brief."

Duncan's lawyer Todd Kincannon responded to the allegations that a motion filed by Duncan disputing Bennett's motion to dismiss was based in politics. 

"I don't understand how that's inappropriate. They have tried to use that margin of victory to bully people," Kincannon said. "Either Sean Bennett filed legally or he didn't, and it makes no difference how many people voted for him."

The appeal was dismissed on grounds that the matter should not have been addressed through the court system, but through the state party, which allows primary election results appeals the Monday following an election.

Duncan is a GOP nominee for Dorchester County Council District 5. The county party is scheduled for reorganization March 2013.