BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C.–The nastiness more often than not associated with Berkeley County politics is rearing its ugly head once again.
On June 4th, Steven Smith, a candidate for S.C. House District 15, released text messages via social media allegedly from his opponent, Samuel Rivers Jr. to Elaine Barnett, a republican candidate for Berkeley County Council District 3 which represents Pimlico, Spring Grove Plantation, Foxbank Plantation and Goose Creek.
“If you pull out of the race, trust I will work in your favor and for your good,” one of the text messages reads. “You have much to gain and will lose nothing.”
Smith accuses Rivers along with Tim Callanan, who serves at the chairman for Berkeley County’s republican party, of attempting to bribe Elaine Barnett with a job in Berkeley County in return for her dropping out of the Berkeley County Council District 3 Primary which takes place on June 14th.
Barnett, a political newcomer, is running against Kenneth Gunn, Jr. who currently holds the District 3 county council position. Gunn has served on Berkeley County Council since January 2013.
“The decision to make the text messages public was not easy,” Smith has stated. “However, we knew that there was no other choice. My heart breaks because of the corruption in South Carolina, and I’ve decided that enough is enough. We can no longer be idle and allow this cancer to grow.”
In another message, Rivers allegedly references Callanan, who is also deputy supervisor for Berkeley County.
“Tim will call you,” the message reads. “It looks very good for you. There’s a way you can get the filing fee back.”
Rivers, a Republican lawmaker from Goose Creek, has served in S.C.’s House of Representatives since 2013. He is an ordained minister and senior pastor at The Voice of the Lord International Ministries, Inc.
One day after Smith released the text messages, Rivers took to Facebook to defend his character.
“Yet again, my opponent continues with his attempts to deceive the public. This time, he has gone too far – making libel statements. There was NEVER an offer – or as my opponent called it in his libel statement, a “bribe” – of any sort for anyone to drop out of a race or give anyone a county job,” stated Rivers.
According to Rivers, the text messages were taken completely out of context.
“The truth is that a longtime family friend recently asked me about gaining experience on a volunteer board or commission. I connected her [Barnett] with the proper person to discuss the volunteer positions. Period. Misleading talk and deception from my opponent stating otherwise is just that, posting pieces of a text message is not transparent or factual, sharing half-truths isn’t productive,” stated Rivers.
Rivers continued to state that he is willing to sign a sworn affidavit, affirming his true intentions. He claims his cousin, Edward Johnson, brought Barnett to his office to further discuss her desire to serve and gain more experience if she decided to wait to run for county council.
“[It was] a meeting she initiated and Edward set it up, not me or Tim Callanan. A paid position or a job for the county was never offered or mentioned, only a volunteer board and commissions was discussed,” stated Rivers.
Johnson backed his cousin, stating that he, in fact, arranged a meeting with Rivers and Barnett.
“I did initiate the meeting with him and Elaine because they are both my blood family,” stated Johnson. “I wanted to bring them together and iron out their difference in a godly fashion. I opened the meeting with prayer, and Samuel did not offer her a paid position because that was not in his authority do so.”
Meanwhile, Barnett, a chaplain at Calvary Church of God in Christ, told The Post and Courier Rivers, a longtime friend, pressured her to drop out of the county council race.
“(Rep.) Samuel (Rivers) sent about three people to try to get me to not run,” she told the paper.
She also claims Rivers personally called her to discuss the county council primary.
“I don’t believe Samuel called on his own. I think he did what they asked him to do,” stated Barnett.
Barnett continued to say that Rivers told her to wait until 2020 to run for county council because Gunn has no plans to seek re-election then.
Smith, a pastor, has stated that despite “threats” he’s received, he plans to make South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson aware of the alleged bribery.
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