South Carolina Supreme Court justice candidate Ralph “Tripp” Anderson, chief of the state’s Administrative Law Court, is staying tight-lipped amid reports that he committed a political faux pas by crashing an invitation-only reception for state senators and lobbyists.
The Judicial Merit Selection Commission has advised Anderson against discussing the race, according to ALC clerk Jana Shealy. The commission’s chief counsel, Elizabeth Brogdon, declined to comment on Anderson’s situation.
Anderson was elected to the ALC bench in 1994 and has headed the court since 2009. Earlier this year, he was vying to fill a spot on the Supreme Court that opened when Chief Justice Jean Toal retired and Justice Costa Pleicones moved up to take the court’s helm. But Anderson dropped out of the race at the last minute.
State legislators ultimately gave former Court of Appeals Chief Judge John Few enough votes to defeat opponent Bruce Williams for the vacant seat in February. Williams is a Court of Appeals judge.
Now, as Pleicones approaches retirement, Anderson is taking another crack at securing a coveted seat on the high court. This time he’s up against two circuit judges: Dianne Goodstein of Dorchester County and George “Buck” James of Sumter County.
The judicial selection commission had screened and approved all three candidates, before Anderson allegedly made an unexpected appearance at a state Senate Democratic caucus reception on Nov. 17 in Richland County. Even if the party crashing accusation is true, it was unclear whether Anderson asked legislators for their vote pledges during the shindig. But candidates are not allowed to seek commitments this early in the race.
FITSNews.com, which broke the story, reported that “several lawmakers and lobbyists … were shocked to see him [Anderson] attending the reception.” The blog also quoted an unnamed member of the judicial commission as saying that Anderson was “providing a roadmap on how to lose a judicial race before any legislator can commit.”
Goodstein did not respond to interview requests, but James said he’s “always found [Anderson] to be an honorable person.” He declined to say anything further about the situation.
Asked if he believed the state’s legislative elections for judges should be scrapped, James said that “the process across the board could be tweaked.” But he added that “we’ve got the best system in the country.”
“I think once you have popular elections you have other undesirable things that come into play as far as money and favoritism and so forth. I don’t think it [the current system] is corrupt in the least,” he said. “Somebody will find fault in whatever system we adopt. I think the one we have is vested with a lot of integrity.”
Follow Phillip Bantz on Twitter @SCLWBantz