Jay Stamper
Jay Stamper was a 2014 Democratic candidate who sought election to the U.S. Senate from South Carolina.[1] He was defeated by Brad Hutto in the Democratic primary on June 10, 2014.[2]
Biography
Stamper was born in Spokane, Washington.[3] He earned a bachelor's in government from Connecticut College. He is a businessman and works for a number of nonprofit organizations and is the managing director of the Palmetto Regional Center Corporation, which seeks to promote job creation in areas of high unemployment in South Carolina.[4]
Campaign themes
2014
Stamper's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[5]
- Veterans
- Seniors and Social Security
- Fiscal Policy
- Economy
- Immigration
- Healthcare
Noteworthy events
Council on Political Accountability
In 2002, Stamper was president of the Council on Political Accountability, which purchased and registered over 100 website domains that used the names of elected officials. When online, the domains would redirect to other sites, with apparent satirical intent. For example, Stamper registered www.lloydlevine.com – the same name as that of then-freshman California state Rep. Lloyd Levine – and had the address automatically forward to the website of the National Association for the Advancement of White People. Stamper’s group would then offer the domain names for sale on Ebay, ranging in prices from $99 to $499.[6]
In a 2013 interview, Stamper referred to his actions with Council on Political Accountability as pranks by a “political performance artist.”[7]
Federal Savings
Stamper opened Federal Savings, a finance company selling short-term debt securities, in 2006. Stamper did not obtain the licenses required in Washington and was ordered by state officials to shut down the business. He pleaded guilty to three state felony charges and received a sentence of $10,225 in fines and probation. According to The State, Stamper returned about $5 million to more than 200 investors in 37 states.[8] Stamper said, "I never meant to hurt anyone. There was no malice. … In a way I was reckless … but there were mitigating circumstances."[9]
The McKay-Chadwell law firm, which represented Federal Savings in charges filed by Washington State’s Dept. of Financial Institutions, filed suit against Stamper and his business partners (his sister Meaghan McKaige and her husband Andrew McKaige) in July 2010 for unpaid legal fees. Stamper and the McKaiges attempted to contest a court decision in favor of the law firm, but in April 2013 lost their appeal.[10]
PersonRatings.com
In 2009, Stamper launched PersonRatings.com, a site on which visitors could anonymously post negative information about others, without any recourse. After getting negative reviews by national media shortly after its debut, the site was eventually taken down. [11]
Elections
2014
Stamper ran for election in 2014 for the U.S. Senate, representing South Carolina.[1]
Brad Hutto defeated Stamper in the Democratic primary.[2]
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Brad Hutto |
76.6% | 87,154 | ||
| Jay Stamper | 23.4% | 26,579 | ||
| Total Votes | 113,733 | |||
| Source: Results via Associated Press |
||||
Endorsements
The South Carolina Democratic Party has endorsed Stamper's opponent Brad Hutto. According to The State, South Carolina Democratic Party leaders could not endorse Stamper because of his "felony convictions from 2008 for selling unregistered securities in Nevada."[12]
Stamper responded to losing the endorsement to Hutto with the following comments: "The endorsement is consistent with Jaime Harrison's belief that we need to act like Republicans to be elected as Democrats. On a positive note, at least the state party is apparently no longer supporting Lindsey Graham, a departure from a year ago when it effectively endorsed him in a press release as 'one of the few federal elected officials in South Carolina who actually works to try to get things done to help our state's families and businesses.'"[12]
Campaign finance summary
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Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for "Jay + Stamper + South + Carolina + Senate"
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jaystamper.com, "Home," accessed May 21, 2013
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Associated Press, "South Carolina - Summary Vote Results," accessed June 10, 2014
- ↑ Down With Tyranny, "Q&A With Jay Stamper," accessed June 2, 2014
- ↑ Jaystamper.com, "About Jay," accessed May 21, 2013
- ↑ Jaystamper.com, "Issues," accessed May 21, 2013
- ↑ The Los Angeles Times, "Assemblyman sees no humor in web prank," accessed June 2, 2014
- ↑ Daily Beast, "Prankster or politician? Jay Stamper says his SC senate bid is real," accessed June 2, 2014
- ↑ [http://www.thestate.com/2013/09/14/2980396/exclusive-another-unknown-democrat.html The State, "Exclusive: Another unknown Democrat seeks US Senate seat in SC," accessed June 2, 2014]
- ↑ The State, "Graham challenger Jay Stamper finds 'reluctant' support among Democrats," accessed January 14, 2014
- ↑ “Court of Appeals of the State of Washington, "McKay Chadwell v. Stamper and McKaige," accessed June 2, 2014
- ↑ ABC News, "How does the internet rate you?" accessed June 2, 2014
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 The State, "SC Democrats pick sides in US Senate primary," accessed June 2, 2014
