Greenville County Candidates Hit Stretch Run Of Petition Campaigns

There was a buzz of activity Tuesday at 800 East Washington Street, where part of Tommie Reece's small army of supporters were working feverishly to get enough registered voters in the district to sign a petition to put Reece back on the ballot in the general election in November. 

Reece was kicked off the ballot just three days before the June 12 primary because she didn't file her statement of economic interest form at the same time she officially filed for candidacy of the Senate 6 seat currently held by incumbent Mike Fair. 

Hundreds of other candidates across the state suffered a similar fate after the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that those who did not file the paperwork simultaneously could not be certified, even though in many cases the candidates simply filed in the manner told to them by local election officials. 

Reece's campaign staff said Tuesday that they've garnered some 1,800 signatures for the petition, but have to reach 3,000 by Monday to get on the ballot. Reece has some 50 volunteers hitting the streets and the phones to get people to sign, volunteers said Tuesday. 

Greenville County Elections Director Conway Belangia and Chris Whitmire, director of public information for the South Carolina Elections Commission, both said Tuesday they'd not yet received any completed petitions from Greenville County, and that they did not know for sure which candidates were actively pursuing candidacy via petitions. 

Tony Boyce, who is running for the state House of Representatives in District 25, is trying to collect some 1,200 signatures. Boyce will hold a petition drive on Friday at the library on Augusta Road from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

Meanwhile, Ennis Fant is also petitioning to get on the Senate 7 ballot after being kicked off before the primary. Karl Allen, who is currently on the ballot for for Senate 7 and is the current sitting representative in House District 25, is still circulating a petition himself as a matter of strategy. 

"I would like your help with keeping our name out front as the Democratic nominee. We must educate all on the fact that a third petition candidate (if they sign a petition) would split the Democratic vote and help the Republican," Allen wrote on his Facebook page. 

Meanwhile, Leola Robinson-Simpson, who won the Democratic primary on June 12 in the House District 25 race, is also collecting signatures in the event of any other eleventh hour electoral changes, she told the Greenville News.