Business career
Harrell earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of South Carolina. [1] He opened an insurance agency representing State Farm Insurance in 1980. In 2010,after his father died,Harrell combined his agency with that of his father in Harrell Square,a shopping center owned by the family. He and his wife Cathy opened an independent insurance agency,Harrell Insurance Agency in 2014. They now represent over 100 companies such as Progressive,Liberty Mutual,Travelers,Nationwide,Allstate and many more. [4] He previously owned Palmetto State Pharmaceuticals,a pharmaceutical repackaging company that he sold in 2012. [5]
Election as Speaker of the House
Harrell ran unopposed as Speaker in 2006 and 2008,and 2012. In 2010,Harrell had a token opponent for Speaker when Ralph Norman challenged Harrell for the Speaker’s office. Harrell was re-elected,defeating Norman who only drew five votes of support –including his own vote –among the 124 House members. [8] As Speaker of the House,Harrell effectively controlled policy in South Carolina alongside Hugh Leatherman and Glenn F. McConnell during Governor Mark Sanford's administration. [9]
Political contributions
In 2010,Harrell received the largest amount of political contributions –$47,425,or nearly 22 percent –from lawyers and lobbyists,according to OpenSecrets. [10] The next largest amount,$30,100,came from health professionals. [10] In 2008,Harrell received $361,053 in contributions. The largest contributing industries were real estate ($29,825),and lawyers and lobbyists ($28,000). [11]
Campaign contributions and receipts
In September 2012, The Post and Courier reported that Harrell had reimbursed himself more than $325,000 from his campaign war chest since 2008 but had produced no receipts or itemized invoices accounting for the spending. [12] Harrell informed The Post and Courier that all his expenses were legitimate and the reimbursements were less than the fair market value. [13]
Harrell provided receipts to an Associated Press reporter who reported that the receipts and invoices were in order.
In October 2014 Harrell pleaded guilty to six counts of misusing campaign money; he was fined $30,000 and required to pay $94,000 to the State’s general fund, received three years of probation, was required to resign his office and was barred from public office for three years. [14] [15]
Even though he had left office, and was not seeking office, it was too late to remove his name from the ballot in the 2014 elections. Democratic nominee Mary Tinkler received the most votes for the seat, but Harrell still carried Dorchester County even with signs in the polling places stating that he had withdrawn from the election. [16]
This page is based on this
Wikipedia article Text is available under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
