SCFC BACKGROUND: The South Carolina Freedom Caucus (SCFC) was initially self-formed in May 2022 by former SC House Rep. Adam Morgan (R – Greenville).  We were hopeful, but lost such hope almost immediately when we realized the founders / supporters were the remnants of the “establishment” players in Greenville that had helped perpetrate the 2021 Greenville County GOP ReOrg FRAUD.  It was the Greenville “establishment’s” answer to the founding of mySCGOP in January 2021 and the subsequent takeover of the Greenville County Republican Party (GCRP) by MAGA / America FIRST Patriots.  This was most evidenced by the SCFC’s backing locally in Greenville by Jim DeMint, Ellen Weaver, the #NeverTRUMP crowd … and apparently SCGOP RINO Chairman, Drew McKissick.

Think about it … if you were really creating out of Greenville a legislative “Freedom Caucus”, wouldn’t you want to talk to the largest, loudest, and most conservative County Republican Party in the state … the GCRP?  They never did.

And it wasn’t just the GCRP the SCFC refused to talk / work with … it was all the other MAGA  / America FIRST County GOPs & leadership in South Carolina as well.  Adam Morgan, et al. had no apparent interest in talking / coordinating with any of the most active grassroots elected parties in the state … but they talked with Drew McKissick and the SCGOP leadership.  

Hmmmm … is it starting to make sense?

THE NUMBERS – 18 members & 35 challengers???:  On April 1st, 2024, Rep. Adam Morgan while campaigning for his failed run for Congress, stated at the Greenville County Republican Party bi-monthly meeting that the SCFC had 18 members, and 35 challengers all across SC.  It was rather impressive … and the crowd felt as if the SCFC was going to “take over” the SC State House under Adam Morgan’s leadership as Chairman.  IF ONLY IT WAS TRUE!!!

Well, flash forward a few months, Adam lost his bid for Congress and is completely out of office … and Jordan Pace (R – Berkely) … the member furthest away for the conservative epicenter of Greenville … is the new chairman.  At a press conference in Columbia a few weeks ago, Pace stated the SCFC had 20 – 21 members.  How he was not sure the exact number we don’t know … but again … IF ONLY IT WAS TRUE!!!

Well, now flash forward to this week’s SC House organizational session … and we now know the actual numbers.

17 total members … 12 incumbents and 5 freshmen.  

[NOTE:  Soon to be 16 when the promised federal indictment of Rep. RJ May, III comes to fruition in the next month as stated in court documents by the SC Assistant US Attorney – (HERE & HERE).] 

That is 17 out of 124 SC House members … out of 88 Republicans and 35 Democrats with 1 vacancy.  Not enough, by far, to do literally anything … and it doesn’t help their effectiveness that nobody in Columbia likes them … and not many outside Columbia like them either given their arrogance and unwillingness to come to the table (yet?).  Yes, the SCFC leadership has rebuffed efforts to coordinate with the most conservative grassroots elected county GOPs – presumably because they would be held accountable for their advocacy for things like 100% government-run private Christian School Choice (#NotConservative) … and Democrat programs like the First Steps pre-K reading program they championed (HERE & HERE).

Hey … the door is always open … just walk in.

ANYHOW … A WORD OF ADVICE:  We all know politicians exaggerate … fudge on the numbers a little (or a lot) … but one word of advise … if you are running an anti-establishment organization … against people who do lie to us all … DON’T LIE TO THE PUBLIC YOURSELF!!!  We get enough of that from the RINOs … and you lose all credibility.  

The grassroots activist we spoke with about the real membership numbers, were shocked at the SCFC’s “exaggeration” (to put it kindly) … and some were not shocked given their alliance with Drew McKissick and the establishment #NeverTRUMPERs. 

SCFC Members

1. 1. Jordan Pace (Berkely) – Chair
2. 2. April Cromer (Anderson) – Vice Chair
3. 3. Josiah Magneson (Spartanburg) – Vice Chair
4. 4. Rob Harris (Spartanburg)
5. 5. Bill Chumley (Spartanburg)
6. 6. Jay Kilmartin (Lexington)
7. 7. Ryan McCabe (Lexington)
8. 8. RJ May (Lexington) – presumably to be indicted any day now.
9. 9. Joe White (Newberry)
10. 10. Mike Burns (Greenville)
11. 11. Alan Morgan (Greenville)
12. 12. Thomas Beach (Anderson) – Voted for Bubba Cromer on Tuesday.
13. 13, Jackie Terribile (Freshman – York) – replaced SCFC member David O’Neal who decided not to run for re-election.
14. 14. Stephen Frank (Freshman – Greenville) – replaced SCFC member Adam Morgan who lost his bid for Congress.
15. 15. Chris Huff (Freshman – Greenville) – replaced SCFC member Ashley Trantham who decided not to run for re-election.
16. 16. Lee Gilreath (Freshman – Anderson) – replaced former Rep. Jay West who he defeated in the primary.
17. 17. Sarita Edgerton (Freshman – Spartanburg) – replaced Rep. Roger Nutt who is now in the SC Senate.

FORMER MEMBERS:  Aside from Adam Morgan (Greenville) & Stewart Jones (Laurens) who both ran for Congress this year and lost … as well as David O’Neal (York) & Ashley Trantham (Greenville) who both decided not to run for re-election … former members also include Representatives Steven Long (Spartanburg), Bobby Cox (Greenville), Patrick Haddon (Greenville) who all left the SCFC in January 2023 … and apparently Rep. Melissa Oremus out of Aiken who it appears failed to rejoin this year.