COLUMBIA, S.C. (WBTW)-Just a day after Governor Nikki Haley urged state lawmakers to agree to a legislative meeting to discuss removing the flag, they agreed to talk about it and vote.
While most members of the house were for removing the flag, ten members of the South Carolina house voted against a motion to debate whether to remove the confederate flag from a memorial outside their capitol.
Eric Bedingfield, William Chumley, Christopher Corley, Craig Gagnon, Michael Gambrell, Kevin Hardee, Jonathon Hill, Wendy Nanney and Anne Thayer all voted no.
Kevin Hardee is s a representative from right here in Horry county who also voted against having the flag removed. We reached out to him for comment but he did not return our calls.
Senator Lee Bright of Spartanburg voiced his opinion Tuesday at the statehouse. He said he wouldn’t give much of a reason for why he was against it but just said he would not be voting to have it removed.
“As a Christian, I know that’s the way we’re supposed to be, but I don’t know I could have been that way. I’m confident I couldn’t have been that way. I mean, I’d have been seeking revenge, and that is just a testimony of what Christ can do in peoples’ hearts. And that’s what I want the world to see. And I’m sure we’re gonna have a spirited debate over the flag. I know this is going to be added. I’m not gonna vote for it, and I’m gonna tell you all the reasons why when we come back. But I want to remember my friend, Senator Pinckney, who was always you could see joy in him.”
He wasn’t the only one against it. State representative Bill Chumley of Spartanburg says his supporters have been calling him and want the flag to stay, adding that people are focusing on the wrong problem.
“Why do we let hate groups dictate how we live and how we feel? Hate groups are everywhere. There are mean people everywhere, we found that out in Charleston. We’re focusing on the wrong things here. We need to be focusing on the nine families that are left and see that this doesn’t happen again.”
Lawmakers will come back to Columbia next month to consider any vetoes by the governor and that’s when they’ll debate bills to remove the flag. Any change to the flag must be approved by two-thirds majority of the state legislature. Count on news 13 to keep you updated.