Senate primary battle draws in state interests

State Senate candidate Tom Davis is outspending his opponent by 3-to-1, according to documents filed with the S.C. Ethics Commission this week. But that doesn't include thousands of dollars that the S.C. Senate Republican Caucus is funneling into Sen. Catherine Ceips' campaign to pay for television spots and a Web site.

Ceips has spent about $40,000 on her re-election campaign, according to the most recent campaign disclosure reports, and Davis has spent $136,000 on his campaign.

But what's not included in Ceips' expenditures is money that's paid for a television ad and the Web site thankyoucatherine.com, which highlights some of her legislative victories.

The Senate caucus has spent $20,000 to run Ceips' ad on WSAV, which is Savannah's NBC affiliate, according to documents obtained by The Beaufort Gazette. The caucus also paid for ads on Time Warner and WTOC, which is Savannah's CBS affiliate.

Davis, who was Gov. Mark Sanford's chief of staff before he resigned to run for the District 46 Senate seat, called the caucus spending an "unprecedented special interest bailout" and claims the caucus spent as much ad $70,000 to support Ceips.

Ceips and Davis will face off in a June 10 Republican primary for the Senate District 46 seat.

Ceips defended her campaign practices Wednesday.

"While I am honored to have the support of the Republicans in the Senate -- and many other Republican groups -- state laws do not allow me to know the details of that support," she said in an e-mail sent out by her campaign consultant Rod Shealy.

Davis said he hasn't seen any campaign material promoting his candidacy come from any special interest groups.

The Ceips television ad in question features people calling into an answering machine and leaving positive messages for Ceips applauding her stance on immigration reform. There is a second campaign ad on television featuring Ceips speaking, though her campaign forms don't say how that one was paid for.

"This is Jim calling to say you're doing the right thing on immigration legislation. Keep fighting for us, Catherine," one of the callers in the caucus-financed ad says.

Although it clearly promotes Ceips' candidacy, it doesn't specifically tell people to vote for the incumbent, which means Ceips doesn't have to report the expenditure on her campaign documents.

The caucus is required to include the so-called issue-oriented campaigning on its quarterly filings sent to the Senate Ethics Committee. That report has to include what the ad was about and who paid for it.

The next quarterly report isn't due until July 10. The April report showed that the caucus had $145,000 to spend.

"The caucuses are treated the same as any special interest groups," Sen. Robert Hayes Jr., R-York and chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee, said Wednesday, adding that the caucus expenditures are legal as long as the caucus and Ceips didn't collaborate on the ad.

State law allows caucuses or political groups to donate a combined $5,000 to a candidate. But the soft money that promotes issues and not candidates isn't capped. The caucus also has donated its $5,000 limit to the Ceips campaign.

Both the answering machine ad and the Thank You Catherine Web site state that they're paid for by the caucus.

Sen. Harvey Peeler Jr., R-Cherokee and chairman of the caucus, couldn't be reached for comment.

This most recent campaign documents also show that Davis'war chest has grown to $184,364, outpacing Ceips by $74,000.

Davis raised $162,000 during the most recent reporting period. Ceips raised $85,000, bringing her total contributions for the campaign up to $110,636.

Ceips' $1,000 donations, the most allowed by an individual or business, came from: Anheuser-Busch; Ausburn, Charles; BlueCross BlueShield SC; Bowen, McKenzie; Chappell, Smith & Arden; Charlesont Branch Pilots; Clardy, Veronica; Coastal Neurology; Crosland, Malcolm; Enterprise Rent-A-Car; Fulton & Barr; Grand Strand Statewide; Grand Strand Statewide; Harrell, Ken

Hoffman Law Firm; Holcombe, Eddie; Hood, S. Randall; Howard, Howard Francis & Reid; Hundley, Walter; Jackson, William & Sandra; Luttrell, James; MB Lodging; Palmetto Leadership; Pearlman, David; SC Builders; SC Hospital Assoc; SC Orthopedic Assoc; SCBWA; SCMA; Sink, George; Society Ophthalmology; Titlemax; Trucking Industry N-P; Uricchio, Howe, Krell; White, Thomas Williams, K.

Davis' $1,000 donations came from: Averyt, Gayle O.; Averyt, Margaret; Baker Jr., William A.; Baker, Ruth O.; Barras, Paul ; Barringer, Paul B.; Barter, Mary Louise; Barter, John William; Battey, Colden; Bethea Jr., William L.; Boulware, Jeannine; Bryans, William; Chaffin Jr., James J.; Cornelius, Liasbeth H.; Davis, G. Thomas; Gray, Herb G.; Greenfield, William R.; Grims Jr., C. C.; Hall, Jamie; Harvey, Helen; Herrick, John; Hewitt, L. M.; Hewitt, William B.; Holloway, Thomas A.; Hornsby, David H.; IBIS, Inc.; Johnston, Donald; Kilgore, Glenn; Killagon, Paul J.; Legasey, Edward E.; Lowndes III, William; Lowndes, Henrietta; Maguire, March; Munson, Suzanne; Navarro, Benjamin; Navarro, Kelly; Parrs, Noreen; Patterson, Joan W.; Patterson, P. Merritt; Peacock, Oliver L.; Pingree, Richard C.; Pingree Jr., Sumner; Prezzano, Wilbur J.; Prezzano, Sheila; Reeves, Aubrey; Reeves, Patricia; Rhodes, Vincent; Sade, Robert M.; Sanford, Marshall C.; Sanford, Jennifer S; Seaboard Holding Group, LLC; Skatell, Anthony; Sumner, Rebecca; Trask, Julia C.; Trask, Mary Louise; Trask, Frederick

; Tully, Steven J.; Von Harten, William R.; Waddell, Cameron; Walldorf, Chad; Walldorf, Jena; Ward, Kimberly; Wardle, William; Webb, Cathy; Wheeler, Lisa R.; Willis, Ken L.; Wilson, Jeannette