S.C. Democrats to Certify Alvin Greene's Primary Win -- Reluctantly

Democratic Party election officials in South Carolina will meet today to certify Alvin Greene's surprising win in Tuesday's primary for the U.S. Senate, reports The State newspaper. They say they have no choice.

Greene, a 32-year-old unemployed military veteran who faces a felony obscenity charge, won 59 percent of the vote and the right to challenge GOP Sen. Jim DeMint in the fall after spending very little money on his campaign and making few appearances.

Embarrassed Democrats still wonder how Greene defeated Charleston attorney Vic Rawl and has once again landed the state in the national media spotlight.

"We find ourselves in an interesting spot, a spot only South Carolina can find itself in," state Rep. Bakari Sellers, a Democrat, said in The State.

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) – who is suspicious of how Greene came up with the $10,400 filing fee -- has asked for an investigation of the election. Clyburn has speculated that Greene was a "plant," perhaps by Republicans, a charge DeMint's office called "ridiculous."

South Carolina Democratic Party Chairwoman Carol Fowler has asked Greene to step down but admits the state party cannot stop candidates from running for office if they meet the requirements. She has said she believes voters chose Greene because his name was listed first alphabetically on the ballot. Fowler said that she has been told the Federal Election Commission is looking into an inquiry about how Greene came up with the money.

Greene says he intends to stay in the race and is challenging DeMint to a debate.

In an interview on "The Big Picture" on ETV, South Carolina public television, Greene tells how he intends to "get my message to the people of South Carolina":


Interviewed by The Washington Post at his father's home in Manning, S.C., Greene said: "The people have spoken. The people of South Carolina have spoken. The people of South Carolina have spoken."

When asked about the allegation that he showed a University of South Carolina student pornography in a computer lab and suggested they go to her room, Greene told the Post, "I'm on the not-guilty side of things." His accuser, 19-year-old Camille McCoy, said, "I really wish I'd known before the election, so I could have said something so that people would have known who they were voting for."

South Carolina Rep. Todd Rutherford, a Democrat, told The State he has tried to convince Greene to abandon his campaign. "It was clear to me that if this was a joke, he didn't get it," Rutherford, an attorney, told The State. "If he were a client of mine, I would request that he get a mental evaluation. And I don't say that to be mean."