House painter becomes first jab in what could be a dirty Senate campaign

Catherine Ceips' political team is charging that Tom Davis, her impending Senate opponent, hired an illegal immigrant to paint his Scott Street home.

Davis, Gov. Mark Sanford's former chief of staff, is having his house painted. But neither he nor the men hired to paint say they know who the "illegal immigrant" is, nor have they met him. And all of the people working for Davis are documented as legal immigrants.

A photograph sent by Rod Shealy to The Associated Press and obtained by The Beaufort Gazette shows a man donning a backward baseball cap, smiling and standing at the front door of 502 Scott St., Davis' home.

Shealy, who ran Ceips' Senate campaign last year and said he plans to run her re-election bid, said Randy Bates, a Ceips staffer and former candidate for House District 124, sent him the photograph of a man identified as Josias Misale Ayala.

"I do not know for sure who shot it," Shealy said Tuesday of the photograph. "I have the names of (Bates) and two other people who were witnesses to the immigrant."

Bates couldn't be reached Tuesday and Ceips said she would keep her comments to a minimum because of what could be "an ongoing investigation."

"I see this as any time I hear about illegals and anytime I hear about possible human trafficking things, what I do is what the Department of Justice told me to do ... and that's call Immigration and Customs Enforcement," she said. "What I've done is I've turned this case over to the proper authorities."

Shealy said proof of Ayala's immigration status was based on a conversation Bates had with the man.

"They apparently had a pleasant conversation, and the gentleman had no qualms about saying he was not there legally," he said. "The photographic evidence is pretty strong. He clearly was there working. There was work being done. I believe there was an illegal immigrant there working."

But Davis disputes all of Shealy's claims and is calling on Ceips to split from the controversial Lexington political strategist.

"These kinds of attacks are what is wrong with politics," Davis said in a statement. "What Ms. Ceips and her campaign operatives are doing is reprehensible, Today, I call on Ms. Ceips to fire Rod Shealy and Randy Bates, the two operatives who carried out this dirty trick at her direction." When asked if Bates and Shealy still are members of the campaign team, Ceips paused and simply said "yes."

Davis said he would file a police report if the conversation between Bates and the painter took place inside the home.

"If Randy Bates was in my house, if Catherine Ceips' chief of staff was in my house, I'm filing charges. That can't happen," he said.

Bates told the AP that the workers invited him and a translator inside.

"Nobody broke in," he said. "There was no yelling and screaming at anybody."

Davis, who last week announced he was resigning from the governor's office to run for Ceips' Senate seat, is having his house painted in preparation of his family's move back to Beaufort. The home had been rented by the Davises for several years.

Burton-based Partners Painting Co. was hired to paint the home and started work earlier this month. The company is owned by Santos Luna, who is in Honduras this week, and managed by Henry Tome in Luna's absence.

Luna has had a business license with the county since 2006 and is licensed with Beaufort on a per-job basis. He has a license for the Scott Street job, though it wasn't issued until this week. Robin Davis, Beaufort's business license administrator, said it's not uncommon for a job to start without a license.

"In a perfect world we'd like to see a license first before work starts," she said.

And if Partners Painting Co. is found to be employing illegal immigrants any legal liability falls on the business, not Davis.

Tome on Tuesday said there are three men working at the Davis home - himself, Juan Hernandez and Arnaldo Garcia. All three men are from Honduras.

Davis and Tome provided documents that show all three men are in the country legally and have Social Security and permanent resident cards.

Tome said he doesn't know who the man in the photograph is and that neither he nor the rest of his crew was in the home when Ayala was there nor when the photograph was taken.

Tome said a woman walking a dog also shot a photograph of one of the painters but didn't explain why. Shealy said the photograph he provided was taken last weekend.

"I have all the documentation on my employees," Tome said Tuesday. "If they try to attack me, I have the proof."

Shealy told the AP he got his information from Bill Somers, who lives in the neighborhood, and Bates.

Somers, also a painting contractor, told the AP he suspected the work was being done by illegal immigrants because it was being done on the weekend.

In 1992, Shealy was convicted of violating state campaign laws by not reporting a $5,000 campaign contribution. The misdemeanor charges came after it was alleged that Shealy used the money to hire a black man to run in a Lowcountry race, hoping it would prompt white Republicans to head to the polls and defeat the black challenger. It was a move meant to help his sister's campaign for lieutenant governor, according to The State. Shealy was fined $500. And Somers isn't without his own credibility issues.

During a 2006 Beaufort County Board of Education campaign Somers claimed to have the support of U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint and Karen Floyd, then the GOP candidate for state superintendent.

But neither DeMint nor Floyd ever told Somers they'd support his campaign.

The painter photograph could be the beginning of a dirty campaign for the Senate seat that represents most of Beaufort County.

Ceips took control of the seat last year after a tough Republican primary with Beaufort County Council Chairman Weston Newton. The District 46 seat became vacant in February 2007 when Scott Richardson resigned to become director of the state Department of Insurance.

"It's sad that Catherine Ceips' organization has chosen to kick off her re-election campaign this way," Davis said.

Shealy said he spoke with Ceips before sending the photograph to the AP and that she was more worried about the legal issue than the political ramifications.

"This is definitely not political, this is a serious legal matter," Ceips said.

Ceips said she has filed her re-election paperwork, and Davis said he plans to file this week. Filing closes Sunday.