Berkeley Republican Committee Picks Callanan — Again

As audience members were taking their seats at the Fox News GOP Primary debate in Myrtle Beach last month, word was quickly spreading in Berkeley County that Republican Party Chairman Tim Callanan had resigned so that he could endorse and campaign for Rick Santorum.

The county party's executive committee made no effort to quickly replace Callanan, instead having Vice Chairman Samuel Rivers fill in before taking a vote for the chairman Monday night.

Callanan was the only nominee, according to the Post and Courier. Facebook posts from prolific critic Don Bailey and others had some expecting a fight Monday night, but the skeptics of Callanan's leadership are clearly outside of the county's executive committee.

Callanan will have to resign again if he faces a primary challenge for his County Council seat during next month's filing. Without a challenger, Callanan told Patch on Tuesday that he expects to serve for the next year.

One important job: Finding fresh blood for the party leadership after serving what will be four years as chairman. "Hopefully we'll be able to find a good bullpen of leaders," he said. "It's difficult, just like its difficult to get someone to run for office."

Hard to measure the impact of Callanan's last minute endorsement, or that of state Sen. Larry Grooms (R-Bonneau), but Santorum out-performed in Berkeley County, netting 21.59 percent of the county's votes, compared to 16.97 percent across the state.