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League of South backing becomes issue in state Senate race
COLUMBIA, S.C. - An endorsement two years ago from a group that advocates Southern secession has become an issue in a state Senate race between Republican Ken Wingate and Democratic state Rep. Joel Lourie. The League of the South supported Wingate in his race for governor in 2002. On Friday, Wingate called the endorsement "irrelevant." "I don't take any position on this group," Wingate said. "It is not incumbent on me to go and to find out what groups are all about and to make judgments as to whether I agree and disagree with everything they may stand for." Lourie and other Democrats say it is not the old endorsement that matters. Instead, they are upset that Wingate refuses to distance himself from the group. "I think anyone that follows politics in South Carolina is very familiar with them and the deplorable views they espouse, the hatred they spew," said Lourie of Columbia. The League of the South has been called a "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a characterization the group vigorously denies. "We are a Southern nationalist organization and have been so since day one. We believe in the right of secession, the right of Southern independence," League of the South President Michael Hill said. Hill said he wasn't surprised some people are trying to "sully Mr. Wingate's reputation" by associating him with the group. "As far as I'm concerned, we have no relevance in this race. He's not a member of our organization," Hill said. The endorsement dispute is the first real nasty turn of the race, which has centered largely on highly positive advertisements and campaign literature focusing on the candidates' backgrounds, families and positions on issues. The seat, which covers the suburbs east and northeast of Columbia, came open after Republican Sen. Warren Giese announced he would retire. Wingate said Lourie's supporters are trying to steer the campaign away from issues such as education and job creation. "Any person who knows me personally knows I am an individual who cares about all South Carolinians," Wingate said. "I am in my personality and in my background and experience a bridge builder, a consensus builder." Lourie said he would like to talk about those issues, too, but he thinks Wingate's refusal to denounce the League of the South shows he isn't the best choice for the seat. Lourie hasn't drawn attention to the endorsement himself. Instead, it was Sen. Darrell Jackson who called a press conference Friday to talk about the issue and brought the endorsement to Lourie's attention. Jackson said he would be against any candidate, Democrat or Republican, who did not condemn the League of the South because the group attacked him during the fight to remove the Confederate flag from the Statehouse dome in 2000. "I don't like the League of the South and what they stand for," said Jackson, D-Hopkins. "Every opportunity I have, I will expose them."
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