Dwight Drake Announces Candidacy for Governor of South Carolina

Dwight Drake, a longtime Columbia, South Carolina lawyer with Nelson Mullins, announced today that he is joining the growing group of Democrats running for Governor of South Carolina in 2010. We had to remark on this newest entry into the gubernatorial race not because of any party affiliation or the candidate, but because Dwight Drake's announcement now brings the field of candidates for South Carolina Governor to a staggering total of 12.

The current candidate list reads as follows:

Gresham Barrett (R) Dwight Drake (D) Amos Elliott (D)Robert Ford (D) Lawrence “Larry” Grooms (R)“Nikki” Haley (R)W. Mullins McLeod, Jr. (D)Henry McMaster (R)Harry L. Ott, Jr. (D)Vincent Sheheen (D) Jim Rex (D). André Bauer (R) has indicated he may run, but not announced anything officially.
(Source: WSPA.com)

We are particularly keen on how this South Carolina Governor's race will play out, both in the primaries and in 2010, because of the negative publicity the state has seen over the Mark Sanford affair. Sanford has been in the Governor's seat since 2002, and his fast fall from grace has left an open-ended road for how his successor will lead the state. Interestingly, Dwight Drake was also the lawyer who represented two South Carolina students who sued Sanford to force him to accept federal stimulus funds.

Read The State.com's coverage of the Dwight Drake announcement here.

Brett Banter