South Carolina Senate 35 Race: Wading Through the Muddy Swamp Water on Election Day

 

       The South Carolina Senate 35 Republican primary race that is currently in a run-off between Kershaw County businessman Mike Jones and Richland School District 2 board member Lindsay Agostini will be decided at the polls today, and the amount of muddy water voters have had to wade through from the mudslinger has made it difficult to decipher truth from fiction and smears from fact. 
        The Lindsay Agostini campaign released a press release on June 19 that claims Mike Jones was found guilty of misdemeanor and felony charges from more than a decade ago and "has no business running for any public office, much less the South Carolina Senate. His violent past is deeply troubling and makes him unelectable in November." 

        Mike Jones says the only thing he has ever been convicted of is a traffic violation and if those allegations were true, federal law would have prohibited him from possessing a U.S. Army security clearance, serving as a certified law enforcement officer, obtaining a concealed weapons permit or owning a gun store. 
        Jones has provided a S.C. Law Enforcement Division (SLED CATCH) report which is dated June 19, 2024. According to the report, which is the central database for all criminal records in the state of South Carolina, no arrest data for Jones is shown. 

                The Agostini campaign has also launched a text message and social media campaign with screen shots of supposed police reports and other documents they say are "undeniable proof" that the accusations are true and that Jones was found guilty. However, Swamp Fox Patriot has been unable to find any source outside of a screen shot for the accusations. You can see some of those screen shots in the comments on our facebook post here. 

        One document claims to be a written impact statement from Jone's wife, Terry Jones, excerpts from that report reads: 

        "I was at my son's girlfriend's house when my husband called. He said that he had already killed two of my dogs and said he was coming over there to beat my ass. I waited and finally came home around 2 am." The report goes on to say Mike was throwing things around the house, grabbed Terry's arm leaving marks and scratches. 
        Again, SFP has not been able to find any source other than screen shots for this document. 
        SFP did reach out to Mrs. Jones who believes the written statement is a fake and it is not her handwriting. 
        "It looks like someone made a fake document. It does not look like my handwriting. The handwriting is not mine," Terry said. "The SLED document is real. It shows no arrests." 
        The only thing SFP has been able to confirm is the press release from the Agostini campaign and the SLED report showing no arrests are real. 
        Kelly Nash, local media personality at WVOC and from the Rash Radio Podcast tweeted about the situation calling this South Carolina's Steele dossier moment. 
        "This is South Carolina's version of the Steele dossier," Nash tweeted. "Hope the voters in SC 35 come out Tuesday for Mike Jones." 

        It's now up to the South Carolina SC Senate 35 voters who will have to wade through the muddy swamp water on election day. Polls close at 7 p.m. 
        To find out if you're in SC Senate District 35 or polling place information visit SC Votes.