House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, D-Columbia, and other Democrats come to the podium to talk Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024, during the session’s opening week. (Mary Ann Chastain/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)
COLUMBIA — The South Carolina House has booted a judge who sued legislators in an unprecedented move to keep his seat, exposing deep rifts between Richland County Democrats.
Five months after the winning his court case, Master-in-Equity Joseph Strickland lost his job, as the House voted 62-31 to reject his reappointment.
The vote means Strickland, who’s held the seat since 1989, must step down as soon as the Legislature confirms a replacement approved by the Richland County delegation.
House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, D-Columbia, said it reaffirms legislators’ authority in deciding who they want in those positions.
Voting to reject Strickland, Rutherford told his colleagues, means the Richland County delegation will “stay out of your business the way we would normally ask that you stay out of ours.”