Liberty Exposé: South Carolina Can’t Keep Folding
Pavel Danilyuk
Every weekend, thousands of South Carolinians cross state lines into Georgia and North Carolina, hedging their bets and hoping to hit the jackpot. Others search for their ace in the hole within the comforts of their own living rooms, placing bets online through digital sportsbooks, offshore apps, and prediction markets. State legislators in Columbia still stand behind their message that all bets are off, but regardless of a statewide ban, the stark reality is that South Carolinians are already gambling.
Gambling has always been a contentious issue within South Carolina politics, one that has long divided representatives from their constituents. The state’s position towards the luck of the draw has more-or-less remained stagnant since the passing of anti-gambling statutes in 1802. It was not until the early 2000s that former Governor Jim Hodges and state legislators approved the establishment of the South Carolina Educational Lottery (SCEL), and residents of the Palmetto State have been scratching off tickets ever since.
For decades, the staunch opposition towards casino gambling in South Carolina has rested upon moral arguments rooted in caution, tradition, and individual Biblical interpretation. But the South Carolina of 2026 is not the South Carolina of yesteryear, nor is it thankfully the South Carolina of 1802. Clinging to antiquated prohibitions can never guarantee universal morality across a state population of over 5.5 million residents. What it can ensure, is that the financial benefits derived from casino gambling are exported along I-95 to bordering states, while downtrodden South Carolinians are left alone in the search for economic opportunities their communities desperately need.
Nowhere is this more evident than in Orangeburg and other rural counties bordering I-95, where entrenched poverty, economic neglect, and the echoes of Jim Crow-era educational inequalities have earned the region the unfortunate moniker of the “Corridor of Shame”. Recently, state legislators proposed a bill (H 4176) allowing for casino development within Orangeburg County that Rep. Jerry Govan (D-Orangeburg) referred to as an “opportunity, a transformational opportunity, an economic opportunity, and it’s one that I believe we cannot at this point ignore.” While the 2025 bill failed to gain a legislative consensus and the backing of Governor Henry McMaster, it nevertheless has rekindled the debate over whether casinos should be viewed as a conduit of moral degradation, or a necessary tool for economic renewal. In Orangeburg County, where economic revitalization has long been promised but has yet to arrive, the casino industry may be one of the few remaining hands an impoverished community has left to play.
Against All Odds
“Gambling is bad for our culture. It’s not a part of our heritage and there are better ways to make money to give jobs to generate tax money” — Governor Henry McMaster
South Carolina undoubtedly rests firmly in the hands of the Republican Party. Over the last 50 years, the state has voted red in nearly every presidential election, with the understandable exception of backing President Jimmy Carter in 1976 (Love him or hate him, The Peanut Farmer knew how to resonate with small-town and rural voters across the South). Republican lawmakers throughout the state pride themselves on the conservative ideals of personal freedom, individual responsibility, and limited government interference into their own private lives.
Yet, when it comes to casino gambling, these elements of the mainstream conservative script seem to be flipped entirely on their head. Adults are no longer trusted, nor capable, of making their own decisions with their own money. What’s in the ‘best interest’ of local communities is dictated by representatives of counties miles away, and constituent concerns are deafened by floor debates of moral obligation in Columbia. Conservatism turns contradictory once casinos enter the conversation.
Governor McMaster is not the only prominent member of the SCGOP vehemently against introducing casino gambling to the Palmetto State. Out of the 7 candidates vying to secure their place as McMaster’s successor in the 2026 Republican Primary, two voiced their hardline opposition towards physical gambling operations entering South Carolina. Last week at the first SCGOP gubernatorial debate, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) expressed that casino gambling brings “child trafficking, you get sex trafficking, you get all types of abuse. I will be opposed to that and I will fight it.”, while current state Attorney General Alan Wilson stated he could not stand against the law enforcement and faith communities on the casino issue, and that, “It might be helpful to some people, but I think it would be detrimental to our state as a whole to have brick-and-mortar casinos here.” Both Norman and Wilson cited human trafficking as apparently mutually exclusive with casino construction, yet this utterly horrific industry already hides in the underbelly of the state’s paradisal tourist destinations, and human trafficking hotline posters have covered gas station bathrooms and hotel lobbies along the coast for over a decade.
Beyond the parlance of state politicians, faith leaders across South Carolina have consistently thrown their weight against any pro-casino legislation. Steve Pettit, president of public policy nonprofit Palmetto Family Council, condemned the 2025 potential casino framework, believing “It’s a moment of moral reckoning.” Echoing Pettit’s opposition were religious organizations such as the South Carolina Baptist Convention and the Catholic Diocese of Charleston, who issued a unified statement condemning gambling legislation that could “quickly turn into a nightmare.” Earlier this January faith leaders, backed by an “almost certain 150 pastors”, rallied in Columbia to preach out against the casino industry, meeting with lawmakers throughout the day.
But not all religious leaders within the state have taken such a fire and brimstone attitude towards gambling and the possibility of casinos within their communities. Bishop Hayes Gainey, a member of the organization Faith Group 4 Action geared towards supporting the Orangeburg community, affirmed the proposed casino development could “eradicate a whole lot of poverty” and “most importantly, it will give hope where there’s a lot of people in despair.” Gainey reflects the sentiments of many residents of Orangeburg County, including local businessman Scott Peavy who stated, “The economic impact that this casino would make for that area would be phenomenal.”
let’em play, let’em live
“The will is amongst the people that live here, that they want to do what they choose to do with their own money.” — Rep. J. Todd Rutherford
With 22.4% of residents living below the poverty line, 29.1% of children living in poverty, a median income of $45,675, and an 86% student poverty rate, Orangeburg County has unrightfully and unfairly earned its place along the “Corridor of Shame”. But it doesn’t have to remain that way, and the possibility of casino construction, shot down by the failure of H 4176, represented an avenue for an economic revitalization for all who call Orangeburg County home.
Plans drafted by the Santee Development Corporation would have transformed the long-abandoned Santee Outlet Mall, turning the once popular site into a prosperous resort, spa and casino complex. Economic development studies projected an outcome of more than $100 million in annual tax revenue, nearly 4,618 jobs in SC annually, millions of dollars of labor income during initial construction, and “an $8 billion impact on South Carolina’s economy within the first 10 years, creating thousands of good-paying jobs, driving tourism, and expanding business opportunities for local communities.” If the deal wasn’t good enough already, the Santee Development Corporation’s casino would be built without “without one dime of taxpayer risk.”
Yet as great as all this sounds, it currently remains little more than a possibility, and a far-fetched one at that. Hoping to drive support for H 4176, House Ways and Means Chairman Bruce Bannister (R-Greenville) proposed a compromise amendment that would direct the potential 15% tax on gaming revenue to key state interests, rather than limiting tax revenue to the general fund alone. 35% towards the S.C. Conservation Bank, 30% directed to the Veterans’ Trust Fund, 26% to the State General Fund, and 9% of tax revenue remaining in the hands of local counties. But even with this additional amendment, McMaster was not buying any part of H 4176. The General Assembly soon followed, with Rep. Gil Gatch (R-Summerville) withdrawing his name from the bill. The bill was recommitted by Bannister to the House Ways and Means Committee, effectively shelving H 4176 until further support for the legislation could be garnered.
It’s high time for South Carolina Republican lawmakers to conserve and advocate for the immediate demands of the voters they have been elected to represent. To put any personal or moral oppositions aside, especially when a 2025 FITSNews survey found that 63% of general election voters and 58% of GOP-primary voters backed state legislators “allowing a casino to be built in South Carolina,”. The SCEL was created after widespread approval from a voter referendum, and there’s no reason or argument why casino gambling shouldn’t be handled in the same manner.
Let the people decide how they want to be play their hand. South Carolina might just hit the jackpot.
