COLUMBIA, S.C.
Charming and genteel, with an education plan in hand, S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster’s State of the State address Wednesday received a starkly different reception from legislators compared to his Republican predecessors.
“(It was) fascinating to see a governor of this state not try to throw the General Assembly under the bus, and talk about working with us,” House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, said afterward.
The governor received praise from Democrats and Republicans alike, a noticeable contrast to past State of the State speeches by former GOP Govs. Mark Sanford and Nikki Haley. Both had combative relationships with the S.C. General Assembly and ambitions for higher office.
Sanford carried pigs into the State House to protest what he saw as pork-barrel spending, and Haley flung letter grades and other insults at legislators.
“(Haley and Sanford) were both hellbent on saying, ‘No’ to everything and running against the General Assembly and trying to make us the enemy of the people,” Rutherford said. “What we saw (in McMaster) ... was a governor ... willing to work with the General Assembly.”
For 14 years, South Carolina had governors seeking to make a name for themselves on a national stage, leading to battles with a Legislature controlled by their own party. However, McMaster’s inauguration earlier this month to his first full term was a capstone to his almost four-decade-long political career.
The 71-year-old former lieutenant governor became governor in 2017 when Haley resigned to join the Trump administration as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
“I can promise you there’s not any place on earth I’d would rather be than right here, right now, with you. I promise,” McMaster said Wednesday to applause from legislators.
Rutherford said McMaster has met with individual legislators — Republicans and Democrats — “and talked about not only his willingness to work with us, but his ability to do so and not make us the enemy of the people.”
“If that’s what he does, he will leave a legacy in this state that everyone looks back on and says, ‘He was a great governor,’ ” said the Democrat.
Inclusive agenda
Some political observers have questioned whether McMaster had the boldness needed to try to address South Carolina’s shortcomings.
For two years, McMaster had been seen as a caretaker governor, more interested in campaigning for his own four-year term than governing, and lacking an agenda.
Critics, including members of his own Republican Party, had faulted McMaster for failing to provide leadership, citing his vetoes of a gas-tax increase to fix a cash-strapped, crumbling road system and money to replace aging, fire-prone school buses.
Both vetoes overwhelming were overridden by the GOP-controlled General Assembly.
Now, however, McMaster, his election secured, has taken a lead in pushing an ambitious education reform package, working closely with House and Senate leaders.
McMaster also crafted an executive budget that includes a 5 percent pay hike for South Carolina’s nearly 53,000 public school teachers, a $200 million refund to S.C. taxpayers, more investment in the state’s rural communities, and freezing rising college and university tuition costs.
It was an inclusive, aspirational agenda welcomed by legislators.
“With Henry McMaster, you have a governor who loves South Carolina more than he loves himself,” said House Majority Leader Gary Simrill, R-York. “In this case, you have a General Assembly who wants to work with the governor. We’ve always had that desire. ... He has a true desire to move South Carolina forward by consensus.”
McMaster ended his State of the State address with a call for bipartisan cooperation.
“All of us in this building do not wear the same jerseys, but we are still on the same team,” he said, once again lapsing his favored athletic analogies. “We will work together to ensure that future generations of South Carolinians are able to keep winning and prospering.”
Hitting the road with a sidekick
Having a lieutenant governor for the first time in S.C. history serving in the governor’s office also helps create synergy, Simrill said.
Lt. Gov. Pamela Evett, R-Greenville, offers McMaster a political partner who can serve as a conduit between his office and the Legislature.
McMaster seems intent on capitalizing on the new partnership.
McMaster and Evette plan to travel the state in coming days to Rotary clubs, chambers of commerce, and other groups to promote the priorities, policies and agenda that the governor laid out last week, according to the Governor’s Office.
