South Carolina governor Nikki Haley says she won’t appoint a placeholder to take Jim Demint’s seat in the Senate, but rather someone who could serve for years.
The leading contenders may well be a couple of Republicans currently serving in the House of Representatives, but a new PPP poll finds the favorite among South Carolinians would be comedian Stephen Colbert.
The South Carolina native would get 20% of the vote, according to the PPP, while Republican Rep.Tim Scott received 15%, and conservative Rep. Trey Gowdy polled at 14% among likely voters.
Another 11% indicated that they would pick Jenny Sanford, the ex-wife of the state’s former governor Mark Sanford.
DeMint is leaving his job on Capitol Hill next year to head the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Colbert claims he’s up for the job. Last week, the satirist took to Twitter, writing “tweet @nikkihaley & tell her why I belong in the US Senate. For one, I wouldn’t just block legislation, I’d body check it!” Haley responded with a simple “Stephen, thank you for your interest in South Carolina’s U.S. Senate seat.”
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