Sen. Wes Climer, R-Rock Hill, during a Senate Finance subcommittee meeting in Columbia, S.C. on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (Photo by Travis Bell/STATEHOUSE CAROLINA/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)
COLUMBIA — Sen. Wes Climer said Saturday he will resign — effective Nov. 2 — if a resolution that allows him to save taxpayers’ money while ensuring his constituents don’t lose representation becomes law.
The York County Republican’s announcement on social media ended days of speculation over which legislator might resign under the terms of a resolution quietly introduced Tuesday in the Senate. Its unanimous passage Thursday churned up the Statehouse rumor mill over who planned to leave and why.
“There was so much speculation, I felt the honorable thing to do was put the cards on the table,” Climer told the SC Daily Gazette shortly after posting his announcement.
Climer, who’s running for Congress, said he doesn’t want his potential win in November to leave taxpayers footing the bill for a special election and leave the people of Senate District 15 without a senator in the meantime.
Under the proposal, if he turns in his resignation letter by March 1, then the election to replace him will follow the same calendar as all other elections for state and federal offices this year.
State law already allows for what’s called an “irrevocable resignation.” That means he could stay in office until the effective date. But he can’t change his mind. The resignation would take effect no matter what happens in his bid to replace U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman as South Carolina’s next 5th District congressman. That seat is open because Norman’s running for governor.
In Climer’s case, he would no longer be a state senator on Nov. 2, the day before the general election.
The “irrevocable” part is what allows the state Election Commission to proceed with an election to replace him in the state Senate. But normally, that would also be by the timing in state law of a special election.
Not only could that cost several hundred thousand dollars, but “turnout in special elections is habitually very low,” Climer said. “This also serves the purpose of enhancing democratic participation in the race to represent York County.”
Climer, who launched his bid for Congress last summer, said he started researching the possibility months ago. What he’s offering to do is believed to be a first.
But his resignation will depend on the resolution being passed by the House and signed into law by Gov. Henry McMaster.
That won’t be a problem.
House Speaker Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, told the Gazette he expects the House “will move this quickly to prevent the cost of a special election.”
A joint resolution is a temporary law. It goes away when the reason for the resolution is accomplished. In other words, it would apply only to Climer — unless some other legislator decides to resign by March 1 under the same terms.
Climer said aligning special elections with the normal elections calendar should be permanent law.
In the meantime, the resolution was the best solution, he said.
It’s the “only path I could find that would satisfy my responsibility to act in my constituents’ best interest, regardless of how the congressional election goes or how it might affect me personally,” his social media announcement concluded.
Climer had about $490,000 cash in his congressional campaign account as of Dec. 31, according to his latest filing with the Federal Election Commission.
One other Republican has announced a bid for the 5th District: Bill Bledsoe, whose previous unsuccessful bids include campaigns for state agriculture commissioner and U.S. Senate. His latest filing shows $50,000 available from a loan to his campaign.
Two Democrats are also running to replace Norman: Mallory Dittmer, who had about $25,000 available as of Dec. 31, and Alex Harper, whose campaign had a balance of less than $1,000 at year’s end.
Climer’s plans would be the second time in a decade that a legislator resigned from the Statehouse amid a 5th District bid.
In February 2017, Norman resigned from the state House to run for Congress when then-U.S. Rep. Mick Mulvaney left to be President Donald Trump’s budget director. Norman resigned the same day as Mulvaney, allowing the special election process to fill the state House seat to coincide with the congressional contest. Norman’s resignation was effective immediately, leaving House District 48 without a representative for the rest of the 2017 session.
The Rock Hill Republican ultimately won a GOP primary runoff that May against fellow state Rep. Tommy Pope of York, then won the special election a month later.
The election to replace Climer would run on the same calendar as all other Statehouse races this year. All 124 House seats are on ballots. But senators, who are elected every four years instead of every two, don’t face re-election this year. District 15, which is entirely in York County, would be the only Senate seat on ballots in June and November.
Candidate filing is mid- to late March.
Courtesy of South Carolina Daily Gazette
