Bensch Denies Campaigning For McCain

by: Tim Kelly

Thu Oct 16, 2008 at 08:23:37 AM EDT

From today's Hilton Head Island Packet:

A liberal political blog has accused a Hilton Head Island resident who serves on the South Carolina State Election Commission of campaigning for Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain, which would violate state law.

The Web site, Indigo Journal, which describes itself as "dedicated toward building a strong progressive community in South Carolina," got access to an e-mail seeking volunteers for McCain that had been sent to the Beaufort County Republican Party's e-mail list with the names of Commissioner Cynthia Bensch and her husband, Gary, on it.

Cynthia Bensch said the allegation against her is false and stems from the fact that she and her husband share an e-mail account. Her husband sent the McCain ad to Tom Hatfield, who runs the Republican e-mail list, and in August, Hatfield forwarded it to GOP members.

"I knew absolutely nothing about this until (Tuesday night)," she said, "but I do understand how people might seek to disparage commissioners at such a critical time."

"I never campaigned for Sen. McCain, never worked on his campaign, donated any funds, or attended any meetings, or made any phone calls," she added.

I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, since she went on to say "...she'll strictly use an individual e-mail account in the future."

State Election Commissioner Illegally Campaigning for McCain

by: Tim Kelly

Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 13:38:46 PM EDT

In August, Bensch and her husband Gary used a Beaufort County Republican Party listserv to send email from the McCain campaign seeking "...full-time volunteers for positions available immediately in our regional offices located throughout the nation, including our National Headquarters in Arlington, VA."

According to Section 7-3-10 of the S.C. Code of Laws, "No member of the commission may participate in political management or in a political campaign during the member's term of office. No member of the commission may make a contribution to a candidate or knowingly attend a fundraiser held for the benefit of a candidate. Violation of this subsection subjects the commissioner to removal by the Governor."

While Ms. Bensch contributed $500 to Bush-Cheney in 2004 and once called Alan Keyes "'God's last grace,' in the tradition of Moses and Noah," there is no evidence to suggest that she's violated the contribution requirement since her appointment to the commission by Governor Sanford.  

But sending emails on behalf of presidential candidate certainly seems to fall under participating in a political campaign. Below is a copy of the email sent to the listserv on behalf of Ms. Bensch.  IJ also confirmed that the original exists in the archives of the BCRP listserv.

More on this story as it develops.