Ravenel has long wait to run for office15-year time frame set after previous political scandal By Schuyler Kropf (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
If Thomas Ravenel wants to seek elected office again, he'll have to wait 15 years. The former state treasurer told The Post and Courier last week he'd like to get back into politics after his sentence for federal cocaine charges is completed, possibly seeking a seat in Congress. He turns 46 this summer, making him around 60 before he could seek elected office in South Carolina under state law. Another political scandal created the timetable. Previous storyIn the wake of "Operation Lost Trust," the FBI's 1990 drug and bribery sting of the Statehouse, lawmakers in 1996 drafted a constitutional amendment that made felons and those convicted of election crimes ineligible for elected office for 15 years afterward. Then-state Rep. James L. Cromer, I-Richland, a primary supporter of the measure, said the change was needed to keep some of the faces caught up in Lost Trust from trying to make a comeback. At least two former legislators snared in the scandal unsuccessfully ran to regain seats that year. "The amendment added a time limit as to when a convicted felon could file and run for office," said Garry Baum, public information director for the State Election Commission. Previously, potential candidates only had to complete their sentences and get their voting rights restored. The measure passed with 86 percent of South Carolina voters backing it. The amendment applied not only to legislators but to all elected officials. In March, Ravenel was sentenced to 10 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy with intent to distribute cocaine. The Charleston resident shared the drug but did not sell it, authorities have said. He's scheduled to report to the Federal Correctional Institution at Jesup, Ga., on May 29. Reach Schuyler Kropf at 937-5551 or skropf@postandcourier.com. |
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Comments
This article has 15 comment(s)
Posted by Thomas1776 on May 20, 2008 at 1:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Meanwhile, prosecutors, FBI, and SLED, will never arrest anyone else in the Charleston area for being involved in drugs with Ravenel. Why? They are scared of them. Everybody has some kind of dirt on each other. And no law enforcement official is going to risk his career going after the rich drug user circle.
Posted by CedarPosts on May 20, 2008 at 4:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If this story isn't a case of the P&C just trying to get more mileage out of a already dead horse, I don't know what is....
Thomas Ravenel might have a family name, and a good amount of money, but what he doesn't have is a lot of smart.
He needs to learn when to shut up!
Posted by wpc3iop on May 20, 2008 at 8:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I'll bet that nothing is ever heard from the supposed drug investigation surrounding Mr. Ravenel...any takers?
Posted by Early on May 20, 2008 at 8:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Dude, you are done, stick a fork in ya done!!!
Posted by Chief_SittingBull on May 20, 2008 at 8:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Talk about squeezing blood from a turnip! Enough about this guy already especially when nothing new and revealing is being reported…and never has been as is relates to him.
Posted by Threatt on May 20, 2008 at 9:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Wrong. His pardon will free him from such constraints.
Posted by Hutch on May 20, 2008 at 9:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
With age comes wisdom
Posted by Chief_SittingBull on May 20, 2008 at 10:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
…and hopefully a lower tolerance for the affects of cocaine.
Posted by Marianne0558 on May 20, 2008 at 10:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Congress?? He wants a seat in Congress??
Count my vote for the dude that runs against him.
Posted by Larz13 on May 20, 2008 at 10:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
He could run immediately for big Bubba's top ten greatest hits.
Posted by Tammie on May 20, 2008 at 1:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Lmao @ Larz
Posted by studley on May 20, 2008 at 6:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I get it now! Thomas is trying to replace Rodney Dangerfield as the king of the one liners - or was that Henny Youngman?
Marianne: It might be a dudette running against him.
Posted by auger on May 21, 2008 at 3:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Marianne0558 said:
Congress?? He wants a seat in Congress??
Ted Kennedy's seat will be available shortly. He'd have to switch parties but it's not like he killed anybody. Murder and drug use are not exclusions for a senate seat.
Posted by SCdeacinNYC on May 21, 2008 at 10:16 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This is so random. I thought convicted felons couldn't even vote. There are millions of people disenfranchised from even voting again after being reintegrated into society, yet this dude is talking about running for office again. Only in America...well only in South Carolina as well.
Posted by TheCat_inTheHat on May 21, 2008 at 10:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I reckon too, that He gets a pardon in 15 months, and that 15 year wait is out the window. Also, I doubt anymore will be heard about the case as far as indictments. If they can indict him, they can indict anyone of the peoples that were involved, but they got their man. Justice Served. PFFFFFT.