Spartanburg Senator Named Chairman of Bachmann's S.C. Campaign

Rep. Michele Bachmann, whose presidential candidacy has taken on increasingly worse odds as her poll numbers dip, has turned her S.C. campaign over to a lawmaker best-known for joking about another secessionist movement and backing a plan for the state to make its own money.

Bachmann officials announced that she is turning to Spartanburg lawmaker Sen. Lee Bright to chair her Palmetto State campaign.

Bright, who was elected to the state Senate in 2008, has made headlines this year for suggesting the Palmetto State should have its own currency, lauded the Minnesota congresswoman's consistency in an official campaign press release.

A year ago, he worked to affirm South Carolina's independence from the federal government, especially when it comes to healthcare legislation. He joked that: "If at first you don't secede, try again."

"Michele Bachmann is the candidate who doesn't just give lip service to conservative principles but actively lives them out every day," Bright said in a release announcing his new role. "She is the conservative who has been consistent in her record and her rhetoric."

Bright will be joined by Rep. Bill Chumley, R-Spartanburg, who was elected to the state House in 2010 and will help Bachmann's efforts in the Upstate.

"We've seen what kind of damage can be done when we have a president who promises change without the record to back those promises up," Chumley said. "It's time for a president in the White House who is a consistent conservative. Michele Bachmann is the most conservative candidate in the race and her record proves it."

Bachmann, into the Upstate in August after a victory in the Ames Straw Poll, is now of the top tier of the Republican candidates, consisting of Mitt Romney, Herman Cain and a surging Newt Gingrich.

"I'm excited to have Lee and Bill on our team in the all important first-in-the-south state of South Carolina," Bachmann said. "The three of us share views on the important issues of life, family, fiscal responsibility, and are committed to putting South Carolinians back to work."

Bright and Chumley are joined in South Carolina by Wes Donehue, a political strategist who was recently honored as Keith Olbermann's "Worst Person in the World" for his support of the state's Voter ID law.