Alvin M. Greene, South Carolina’s new Democratic nominee for Senate, paid his candidate filing fee from his own pocket, state law enforcement officials said last Friday.
The unemployed military veteran had come under investigation pertaining to his ability to pay the $10,440 filing fee in his surprisingly successful campaign.
Though he did no campaigning and no fundraising, Greene convinced more than 100,000 South Carolinians to vote for him, beating out former judge Vic Rawl, who served in the state legislature for four terms.
From the beginning Greene, 32, maintained that the monies came from his penchant for saving and frugal living. That claim was validated, State Law Enforcement Division Chief Reggie Lloyd told The Associated Press. In reviewing Greene’s bank accounts, SLED agents found an October deposit of nearly $6,000, Greene’s military exit pay, and about $3,000 from state and federal tax refunds, Lloyd said.
“He clearly does not have someone paying him. He just decided to take his money and run for U.S. Senate. There’s no big conspiracy,” Lloyd said.
The obscure candidate’s victory spawned a political battle that’s reached beyond the state. House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn, D-S.C., and others had questioned whether Greene – who lives at home with his sick father – was planted by the Republican Party.
And Greene’s personal troubles, including AP reports that he faced felony obscenity charges for showing pornographic material to a University of South Carolina student last year, stirred up a clamor of requests for his exit from the race.
With little campaigning, no Web site and paltry funds, Greene’s platform and plans to aid the community are largely unclear.
However, he will address the Manning, S.C., chapter of the NAACP on July 17 in his first public address since winning the Democratic primary.