Greene Well Behind DeMint as S.C. Democrats Move Ahead With Challenge

This will surprise no one, but Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) trounces current Democratic opponent Alvin Greene in the first post-primary poll of the state’s U.S. Senate race. DeMint bests Greene 58-21 percent in a Rasmussen Reports poll released today, likely giving state Democrats further reason to continue their ongoing efforts to challenge Greene’s status as the party nominee.

Former state representative and circuit court judge Vic Rawl, Greene’s primary opponent, joined those efforts Monday by filing a formal challenge of the last Tuesday’s election results. According to official results, Greene had defeated Rawl 59-41 percent.

In a statement, Rawl insisted he was filing the challenge on behalf of state voters.

There is a cloud over Tuesday’s election. There is a cloud over South Carolina, that affects all of our people, Democrats and Republicans, white and African-American alike.

At this point, the people of our state do not have the basic confidence that their vote will be counted.

The strange circumstances surrounding Tuesday’s vote require a thorough investigation. For better or worse, this protest process is the only platform currently available for that investigation.

And let me be clear: regardless of the outcome of this protest, a full and unblinking investigation of this election and the overall integrity of South Carolina’s election system must go forward. Whether our protest is upheld or not, I intend to bring my full energies to electoral reform well into the future.

Rawl’s formal protest reverses a previous statement from his campaign that took a wait-and-see approach to the situation. He cited a campaign analysis of the results that indicated voting irregularities, voter anecdotes and what he called the “well-documented unreliability and unverifiability of the voting machines used in South Carolina” as his reasons for filing the challenge.

Meanwhile, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) weighed in again on the situation this morning on Fox News, now blaming the disputed result on hackers while still claiming Greene was a plant. Greene has insisted he is not a planted candidate.

Update at 1:50 p.m.: The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint today with the Federal Election Commission over Greene’s failure to file mandated financial disclosure reports. The group also asked state Attorney General Henry McMaster to investigate whether “Mr. Greene was induced to run for the Senate in violation of South Carolina law.”