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The South Carolina Republican Party is making their final move to remove all candidates from the Republican ticket that are not in “good ole boys” club with a bill (H.3643) introduced by SCGOP poster child Representative Brandon Newton that is set to be voted on Wednesday, January 21st. This bill would immediately eliminate one candidate who has created a name for himself around the state as the anti-corruption candidate: David Pascoe.
Of course, SCGOP members have branded this legislation as a “closed primaries” bill, which couldn’t be further from the truth. H.3643 has four glaring problems: 1) it raises the candidate filing period by five days, 2) imposes filing fees on third party candidates that do not hold primary elections, 3) enables parties to charge candidates an extra $100 “certification fee”, and 4) requires partisan candidates to have voted in two of the last three statewide primaries of a certified political party. If passed, this bill would take effect March 26, 2026, four days before the SC election filing period ends.
The Legislator Behind H.3643
H.3643 was filed by Representative Brandon Newton of Lancaster, who has acted as the SCGOP’s poster child for filing bills that benefit republican leadership. This outlet previously blew the whistle on Newton’s last attempt to insulate Republican incumbent leadership through legislation that would limit the number of state delegates to a party convention and institute multiple ways to deter primary election challenges in 2023. This bill (H.4066) was ultimately defeated in the Senate and thankfully did not see the light of day.
However, you could always count on Brandon Newton to be a fierce supporter of former State Election Director Howard Knapp, who was recently arrested with eleven (11) charges to the use of his official position for financial gain, embezzlement, misconduct and accessory after the fact along with his deputy director, Paige Salonich, who was charged with wiretapping. Don’t believe me? Check out this video from March 2023 where Newton defends Knapp when Representative Rob Harris introduces an amendment to cut funding to ERIC (Electronic Registration Information Center), the state’s controversial voter-roll management organization.
The concept of shutting out new party members is not new to the South Carolina Republican Party. At the SCGOP Convention in 2022, the SCGOP executive team handed out a rules package as delegates from around the state flooded the room on July 30th. The most notable change blocked several party members, many of whom were voting on this package that they had not yet to read, from being able to hold party office on the county or state level if they had not voted in two (2) of the last three (3) most recent statewide Republican primaries.
This rule affected more than just those who had recently joined the republican party following the membership surge after the 2020 election. We received multiple reports that longstanding registered Republicans were denied party leadership positions due to conflicting data reports. For instance, the State Election Commission records would report that an individual did not vote in two of the last three primaries, while the county election office records stated that the individual had voted in all three primaries. SC Safe Elections reported that “primary party designations were inexplicably flipped between data files in the post-primary 2022 database, affecting more than 373,700 voters.”
Republican Leadership Takes Aim at AG Candidate David Pascoe
When it comes to Republican contested statewide elections, First Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe is the only candidate that is currently running who would be eliminated if this bill was passed. Since 2005, Pascoe has represented a deeply democratic area and therefore has run on a democratic ticket until his bid for South Carolina Attorney General. This strategy is very common in democrat counties of the Palmetto State, as many candidates start out running as a democrat locally to make positive change in areas that are 70%+ democratic.
David Pascoe has had an extensive history fighting South Carolina corruption, most notably leading the investigation and prosecution of a pay-to-play scandal orchestrated by some of the most powerful leaders in South Carolina, including Richard Quinn, the most powerful GOP consultant that this state has ever encountered.
This past Monday, Pascoe blasted the S.C. Attorney General’s Office, alleging that the office worked with former GOP consultant and current Executive Director of the Republican Attorney Generals Association Adam Piper to create the Child I.D. Program Act 180 of 2022 that would procure funding to the AG’s Office to run this program that Piper directly financially benefited from.
Pascoe stated that there was a whistleblower willing to testify to the details of this alleged scheme, yet the Senate Oversight Subcommittee chose to ignore it in their meeting reviewing the SC Attorney General’s Office on November 5, 2025. Watch his full presentation below:
It is no secret that SCGOP leaders like Chairman Drew McKissick dislike Pascoe and were not thrilled with his announcement to join the Republican Party. It appears this bill may be the Republican Party’s answer to remove an attorney general candidate that hasn’t sworn their allegiance to those in power and who seeks to expose them.
“I had a Republican legislator tell me that he doesn’t think the bill will pass because it is rife with constitutional issues and would cause a huge disruption in our elections this year,” David Pascoe noted when asked about his thoughts on whether or not H.3643 will be successful.
“And another legislator told me ‘this is Politburo stuff that allows political insiders to decide who their candidates will be.’ The Freedom Caucus has a much cleaner bill that does what it’s intended to do, close the primaries without telling the voters who they can and can’t vote for.”
Beaufort GOP Introduces Resolution to Denounce Pascoe, Dorchester Pushes Back
As reported by citizen journalist Lee Granade, on December 18th, 2025, the Beaufort County Republican Party Chairman Kevin Hennelly presented a resolution seeking the approval of the Executive Committee to denounce David Pascoe’s campaign for the Republican nomination for Attorney General and encourage other county GOPs to do the same.
On January 9th, 2026, Dorchester County Republican Party (DCRP) Chairman CJ Westfall released a video pushing back on Beaufort County GOP for introducing this resolution and upcoming bills being pushed by “political insiders.”
“…there are forces within our South Carolina Republican Party that are trying to deny him [Pascoe] the opportunity to be on your ballot as an Attorney General candidate. Beaufort is leading this,” Westfall emphasizes. On the Facebook post, Westfall stated that he plans to introduce a resolution on January 22nd to the SCGOP Executive Committee “to send a message to the rest of South Carolina, that we will not tolerate shady back room deals to deny voters the opportunity to support the candidates of their choice.”
What You Can Do
H.3643 is scheduled for a hearing in front of the House Constitutional Laws Subcommittee on Wednesday, January 21st, at 12:00pm in Room 516 of the Blatt Building. You can view the full agenda HERE. Here’s how you can take action:
1.) Contact the following representatives and tell them to vote AGAINST H.3643:
Chairman Jay Jordan – (843) 229-1874 – JayJordan@schouse.gov
Weston Newton – (803) 734-3120 – WestonNewton@schouse.gov
Cody Mitchell – (803) 427-6487 – CodyMitchell@schouse.gov
Justin Bamberg – (803) 212-6907 – JustinBamberg@schouse.gov
Spencer Wetmore – (843) 693-8292 – SpencerWetmore@schouse.gov
2) Submit written testimony to HJudConstitutionalLaws@schouse.gov
3) Attend the hearing Wednesday, January 21st, at 12:00pm in Room 516 of the Blatt Building to make your voices heard!
I enjoyed your article about Pascoe. Ty very much for bringing attention to this matter.
I have created a website that exposes corruption in the SCGOP and the Horry County GOP. I hope you find it interesting. The site is goppirates.weluvgolf.com, my email is gcfraser3@aol.com. I would love to get your thoughts.
As someone who reads and appreciates most of your reporting, I find your calling H.3643 an “Incumbent Protection Act” bill very inflammatory and misleading. It is beneath you!
The fact that the current system allows a lifelong Democrat to run in a Republican Primary is problematic and 3643 is the only bill that addresses that. People like me and my peers who work tirelessly for Republican candidates and the Republican Platform, have every right to be concerned who runs for office under the Republican Banner.
This is not to cast any aspersions on Mr. Pascoe, whom I like and find to be an interesting candidate. Some of the strongest Republicans I know were once Democrats.
H.3643 is the only bill currently under consideration that allows the party to assess true loyalty to our party, which we have every right to do.
https://substack.com/inbox/post/179070570?publication_id=4484082&post_id=179070570&isFreemail=false&r=559cad&triedRedirect=true
https://open.substack.com/pub/protectscsovereignty/p/has-pascoe-made-his-case?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=post%20viewer
there should never be exclusions on who should be able to run for office. It is our responsibility to do our homework and place an educated vote. “Loyalty to the Party” is rampant throughout the local and state RINO GOP, which is driving this state off the cliff. And there is a better bill that would close the primaries, while not engaging in this swampy behavior: H3310.