S.C. Democratic Senate Nominee Refuses to Withdraw Despite Felony Charge
Alvin Greene refuses to budge in race against Sen. Jim DeMint.
June 10, 2010— -- Alvin Greene, the surprise South Carolina Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, is refusing to withdraw from the race despite a pending felony charge and pleas from state party leaders that he step aside.
Greene was kicked out of the Army last year and later arrested and charged with "disseminating, procuring or promoting obscenity" in Richland County, S.C., according to court records obtained by ABC News. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
The U.S. Senate candidate was captured on video surveillance Nov. 4 trying to show "obscene photographs from a website" to a female victim on the University of South Carolina campus and go to her room without her consent, according to the affidavit.
"Our candidates want to give this state a new beginning without the drama and irresponsibility of the past eight years," said state Democratic Party chairwoman Carol Fowler in a statement. "The charges against Mr. Greene indicate that he cannot contribute to that new beginning. I hope he will see the wisdom of leaving the race."
So far, Greene has refused, and there is little recourse officials may have since he was legitimately nominated. Federal law does not prohibit charged or convicted felons from serving in Congress -- though the House or Senate could vote to expel a member it deemed unfit for office.
The 32-year-old military veteran, who lives with his parents, declined to discuss the pending felony with ABC News during an interview at his home in Manning, S.C., Wednesday.
"I have no comment about that, I have no comment," he said.
Greene has been unemployed and living in his rural hometown 60 miles south of Columbia. He doesn't own a cell phone and there is no computer in his house.
He returned home last August when he was involuntarily forced out of the Army after a 13-year career. "Things just weren't working ... it was hard to say." Greene said. He had served as an intelligence specialist in the Air Force and later as a unit supply specialist in the Army.
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Greene shocked South Carolina Democrats Tuesday when he won a commanding victory over four-term state lawmaker Vic Rawl in the primary without the help of a war chest of campaign cash or an orchestrated effort to win voters across the state. In fact, there is little evidence that he campaigned at all.
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