SC Supreme Court asked to settle Lt. Gov. vacancy

A South Carolina senator wants the state Supreme Court to rule on whether Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster could pick his replacement if Gov. Nikki Haley becomes President-elect Donald Trump’s U.N. ambassador. The Associated Press reports that GOP Sen. Tom Davis of Beaufort asked the state’s high court Monday to settle a discrepancy on whether a constitutional amendment changing the lines of succession is in effect. If it is, Senate President Pro Tem Hugh Leatherman could easily keep his powerful leadership post. The opening clause of the 2012 ballot question specified changes were to begin “with the general election of 2018.” But a law the Legislature passed in 2014 to ratify voters’ approval said the changes for filling a vacancy in the lieutenant governor’s office took effect immediately. Either way, Leatherman refuses to become lieutenant governor.