Haley: "I reject the option of a placeholder" - wistv.com - Columbia, South Carolina |

Haley: "I reject the option of a placeholder"

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By Jason Old - email

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - Governor Nikki Haley says she wants to fill the vacancy created by U.S. Senator Jim DeMint’s retirement with someone who will not just occupy the seat until the 2014 election.

“As I continue to consider the impending U.S. Senate vacancy, many have discussed the possibility of a ‘placeholder’ appointee who would pledge to serve for only two years and not seek election to the seat in 2014," said Haley on Monday. "While there are some good arguments in favor of that approach, I believe the better case is against it."

“I do not want to tie the next U.S. Senator from South Carolina's hands regarding future office," continued the governor. "I do not want to deprive our state’s citizens of the chance to render their judgment on the appointee’s performance by way of their vote. Most importantly, while I am an avid supporter of term limits, I do not want the effectiveness of our state’s new U.S. Senator to be undermined by the fact that he or she will automatically be leaving the office such a very short time after assuming it.

“I believe South Carolina will be best served by a U.S. Senator who will work hard day in and day out, and put him or herself before the voters at the soonest possible time. Accordingly, I reject the option of a ‘placeholder.’”

On Thursday, DeMint announced his intention to leave the Senate to head up The Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think-tank.

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  • Inside WISTV.com

  • Minutes after Sen. Jim DeMint announced he was abandoning his seat for a chance to run the Heritage Foundation, names of possible successors started swirling on political websites and social media.
    Minutes after Senator Jim DeMint announced he was abandoning his seat for a chance to run the Heritage Foundation, names of possible successors started swirling on political websites and social media. Here's our somewhat serious take on who Nikki Haley might choose.