With Jim DeMint leaving the Senate, there’s plenty of speculation as to who Nikki Haley will appoint.
While Tim Scott has the national attention, there is plenty of South Carolina political intrigue always waiting to happen, so who knows.
While that’s undecided, one thing that has been decided is that there will be no “placeholder”:
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said she will not appoint a “place holder” to replace Jim DeMint in the U.S. Senate who pledges not to run for the seat in 2014.DeMint, a Tea Party favorite, stunned some in the political world last week when he said he would resign to become president of the conservative Heritage Foundation. DeMint’s decision sets up a scramble in South Carolina, starting first with Haley’s appointment and then a special election in 2014.In a statement released Monday, the GOP governor says she does not want to tie the hands of her appointee or the right of the Palmetto State’s voters “to render their judgment on the appointee’s performance by way of their vote.””As I continue to consider the impending U.S. Senate vacancy, many have discussed the possibility of a ‘place holder’ appointee who would pledge to serve for only two years and not seek election to the seat in 2014,” she said. “While there are some good arguments in favor of that approach, I believe the better case is against it. …I believe South Carolina will be best served by a U.S. senator who will work hard day in and day out, and put him or herself before the voters at the soonest possible time.”Rep. Tim Scott’s name is most often mentioned in news accounts as a possible successor to DeMint.
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