Judge: Son of former Clemson coach must be placed on SC GOP ballot for Senate

Danny Ford II, an Upstate farmer and son of a former Clemson football coach, must be included on the Aug. 11 SC GOP special primary for U.S. Senate ballots, South Carolina Circuit Judge Daniel Coble ruled Tuesday.

Read more Judge: Son of former Clemson coach must be placed on SC GOP ballot for Senate

Ford’s name will appear on “all ballots feasible for early voting and for election day,” Coble ruled.

The state Republican Party previously declined to certify Ford over his lack of participation in previous primary elections. Political parties are responsible for determining who is eligible to compete in primary elections in South Carolina.

Ford was one of 12 candidates to file for the open U.S. Senate Republican nomination, but the state GOP only certified nine to appear on the ballot Aug. 11. Ford, who ran a failed bid for state agriculture commissioner this summer, was not certified.

The Upstate farmer did not fulfill new South Carolina Republican Party rules requiring candidates to have voted in two of the past three GOP statewide primaries, a party spokeswoman previously said. South Carolina has open primaries, so the new rule attempted to only allow dedicated Republicans to run with the party. This special primary is the first statewide election with the primary voting requirements in effect.

Coble, in his order, said the application of the party rule lacked “consistency, which tends to present its decisions on candidate certification as capricious and arbitrary.”

Coble also said a party is taking on a state function when it decides who can be on the ballot.

“This Court holds that the SCGOP has waded into the gray area of state action when it certifies to the commission who is and who is not on the ballot,” Coble wrote. “After that certification, the SCGOP moves from a merely private association comprised of like-minded individuals to a state actor.”

Adding Ford to the special election ballot won’t be easy for state and county election officials. The state Election Commission began preparing ballots after filing concluded July 28.

Ballots were sent out beginning July 29, and by Monday morning, more than 1,800 absentee, military and overseas ballots were sent to voters. Ballots did not include Ford’s name.

More than 50 have already been returned, state Election Commission counsel Thomas Nicholson told the judge on Monday at a hearing in the Richland County Courthouse.

It’s this fact that SC GOP attorney Robert Tyson used to argue the election is ongoing now.

“There’s a remedy to be fashioned here. I mean, I think that the UOCAVA [military and overseas] ballots and the absentee ballots together, the total number sent out have been less than 2,000,” said Brad Hutto, the Senate Minority leader who is also Ford’s attorney. “The total number (that will) be cast will be infinitesimally less than that.

Hutto, the state Senate minority leader and Ford’s attorney, said only a small number of absentee ballots have been cast.

“The only person that could be prejudiced by that is Mr. Ford, and he’s certainly not contesting the military ballots,” Hutto said.

The state Election Commission will have to redo the ballots and distribute them back to the 46 counties. Counties will have to upload the ballots and retest voting machines. Early voting begins Wednesday.

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Ford, the state GOP’s lawyer argued, had a right to run for the U.S. Senate, but he didn’t have special privileges to run as a Republican. The state parties have discretion over who can appear on their ballots beyond the federal constitutional requirements, Tyson said.

But Hutto wrote in a filing the state party’s rule was an unlawful violation of the South Carolina and U.S. Constitution.

The Republican Party’s voting requirements were at odds with U.S. Constitutional requirements to serve as a senator, Skyler Hutto, another attorney for Ford said Monday. The constitution requires senators to be 30 years or older, a U.S. citizen and a resident of the state at the time of election.

Ford said in a brief interview with The State last week he wanted to bring his agriculture background to the U.S. Senate. Farmers feel the “backlash” of U.S. Senate actions, making the perspective of people like him important, Ford said Thursday.

“I plan on running so many more times in my life,” Ford said Monday, before a ruling came down. “So this is not going to make me or break me on this situation. I plan on devoting the rest of my life to public service, and I look forward to that.”

Ford is the son of a former Clemson football coach of the same name. The elder Ford led Clemson to its first national championship in 1981 and attended the Monday morning hearing in Columbia.

Darius Mitchell, another candidate booted from the ballot for his voting record last week, also attended the hearing Monday morning.

A special election for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination will occur Aug. 11, with a potential runoff likely happening Aug. 25. Now 10 candidates, including U.S. Reps. Russell Fry and Ralph Norman, U.S. Sen. Darline Graham, Upstate businessman Mark Lynch and former governor Mark Sanford are competing for the nomination.

The winner will face Democratic nominee Annie Andrews in November.

The South Carolina Republican Party passed the new primary voting record requirements in late June.

“But then how can the current plaintiff have been certified for the June 9 primary as a Republican candidate for Commissioner of Agriculture and then have the rules changed so that he is decertified mid-stream?” Coble wrote. “If the June 9 and August 11 primaries are the same, surely due process does not allow this.”

Under the party rules, disqualified candidates can seek a waiver.

A spokesperson for the state Republican Party did not immediately respond to a call following the Coble’s order.

SC GOP Chairman Drew McKissick said no candidates appealed the executive committee’s decision of who could appear on the ballot this election, and Ford did not request a waiver. Ford told reporters he asked for a waiver but did not know the proper process.

Part of the argument between Ford and the SC GOP’s lawyers is whether a primary and subsequent runoff are two different elections or one election. Ford’s attorneys said he participated in the 2026 primary and the runoff.

“A primary and a runoff are one and the same. I mean, otherwise they’d be allowing Democrats to vote in this primary we’re about to have, right?” McKissick said. “I use the analogy of a football game. You got a first half, you got a second half. You vote the first half or the second half or both halves, but you voted. You participated.”

McKissick would not discuss what would happen if the party lost in this case or how a loss it would hurt the party’s lawsuit to close the primaries.

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