Ceips 'supporters' include dead people, Davis backers

A recent mailer from Sen. Catherine Ceips' re-election campaign lists hundreds of locals' names along with the message, "We Proudly Support Catherine Ceips," though several on the list have come forward to say they don't.

Several others on the list can't support anyone -- because they're dead.

After "briefly" reviewing the mailer, Ceips' Republican primary opponent Tom Davis identified 53 of his supporters in the list, plus 10 dead people.

"That's not right. ... It's incumbent on you, if you're going to put someone's name out there" to contact each individual, Davis said. "There's nothing sloppy about it, it's your duty. You're using someone's name."

Davis' entire list of flagged names could not be independently verified by press time, though six of the 10 potentially dead individuals were verified and of the 53 living people, 11 had confirmed that they are exclusively supporting Davis in the June 10 Republican primary. No attempt was made to reach the other 42 individuals.

Neither Ceips nor her campaign manager Rod Shealy could be reached for comment.

None of the confirmed Davis supporters said they had given explicit permission to use their names in the Ceips mailer.

"I'm definitely pro-Tom Davis," said Judy Adams of St. Helena Island, one of the Davis supporters listed in Ceips mailer. "I'm a big time Tom Davis supporter, and that is not nice to use people's names without checking with them first."

Adams and eight others said they had supported Ceips in past elections, but not this time.

David and Diane Stortz of Bluffton said they had no idea how their names became attached to the Ceips' campaign, except perhaps through a shag concert they attended in Beaufort several years ago her campaign put on. At the time, the Stortzs were not in Ceips' House district and were interested in the music, not the politics. They said they never supported Ceips.

"To set the record straight, we are 100 percent for Tom Davis and Ms. Ceips has no right to use our name without contacting us," said David Stortz.

Davis noted one particularly troubling name in the Ceips mailer: family court judge Peter L. Fuge. The state code of judicial conduct bars judges from openly supporting or opposing candidates for public office.

Fuge, whom the legislature elected to judgeship in February, was in court Tuesday and could not be reached for comment. Davis said Fuge was a friend and former law partner who is "thoroughly familiar" with the judicial code of conduct.

"That - thatone's horrible," Davis said. "It puts him in a horrible position. That's just frankly inexcusable. Pete's one of most ethical people I know."

Sen. Wes Hayes, chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee, said the accuracy of campaign advertising is generally not something his committee investigates.

"I'm not saying we shouldn't, we haven't really researched it, but the issue's not really been brought before us," he said. "Generally, this is something the Ethics Committee does not get involved in. This might be the initial case of it."

Hayes said he could not speak about the merits of individual cases because campaign complaints and investigations are confidential. He did note that if a complaint were filed, the committee's rules prevent it from investigating until after the election.

In at least one previous election, Ceips' campaign erroneously named a supporter. In 2002 when Ceips ran for the House District 124 seat, her campaign placed an insert in The Beaufort Gazette and listed Jim Bequette as a sponsor of the ad, which included a list of reasons why Ceips would make a good state representative.

Bequette said at the time he did not support Ceips. "I never authorized the use of my name or agreed to pay for this ad," said Bequette.

Bert Hines, a sponsor of the insert, apologized for listing Bequette's name.