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Lawmaker's personal life goes public

Scarborough's relationship with Ceips questioned

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Incumbents rarely face tough re-election bids, but one Charleston lawmaker's quest for another term in the S.C. House is anything but ordinary.

An alleged affair with another House member, a shooting incident at his parent's home and questions about whose district Rep. Wallace Scarborough is living in have combined to raise the profile of the Republican's November race.

Scarborough, 47, faces Democratic challenger Eugene Platt in House District 115 for the seat he has held since 2000. The district includes much of James Island and Folly Beach.

Nonpolitical issues have been raised about Platt, but the incumbent is drawing the most attention.

"There is no doubt that Wallace Scarborough's personal behavior has had a negative impact on his re-election hopes," said College of Charleston political scientist Bill Moore.

Scarborough and his wife, Mary Ann, were married Nov. 17, 1984, and separated on July 10, 2005, according to divorce papers filed in May in 9th Circuit Family Court in Charleston.

Mary Ann Scarborough accused her husband of having an extramarital affair with another lawmaker -- "a woman named Catherine Ceips of Beaufort ... . Both the plaintiff and Ms. Ceips are legislators in the South Carolina House of Representatives."

Ceips, 51, is unopposed in her November re-election bid.

Ceips, a Republican, also was married when the Scarborough divorce papers were filed. Her husband, Richard, 54, suffered a stroke this spring and died July 27.

Scarborough and Ceips deny they are or were having an affair.

"There's no truth to the story," Catherine Ceips said. "It's a sad day to me when colleagues can't be close friends. I have many close friends in Columbia, and I count Wallace among them."

Scarborough faces other difficulties, too.

In July, he was arrested and charged with two counts of assault with intent to kill after he brandished and pointed a pistol at utility workers, according to The Associated Press, quoting a city of Charleston police report. Scarborough's pistol went off during the exchange with the workers from S.C. Electric & Gas Co.

The utility workers were checking equipment in the backyard of Scarborough's parents' home after a series of storms, a company spokesman said. The gun firing was an accident, Scarborough said, and the charges later were dropped.

Scarborough said his record is being expunged of the arrest.

Most recently, Scarborough has dealt with allegations that, because of his divorce, he no longer lives in his district.

Platt, his Democratic opponent, filed a complaint with the Charleston County Board of Elections and Voter Registration that Scarborough was living at his parent's home in the West Ashley area of Charleston. That neighborhood is in another district.

Voter registration officials do not have the authority to determine if Scarborough is living in the district, said Marilyn Bowers, the board's executive director.

Platt was advised to file a complaint with the Charleston County Republican Party to challenge Scarborough's residency, she said. Republican leaders, though, are not about to disqualify their only candidate.

All of this has added up to an extended political headache for Scarborough.

SALACIOUS CHARGES

The details of Scarborough's divorce proceedings are, indeed, salacious. They first were publicly aired in an article in the Charleston City Paper, an alternative weekly. However, that article left out many of the allegations, such as infidelity, that Scarborough has made against his wife in court filings.

In his counterclaim, Wallace Scarborough says his wife also had an extra-marital affair. Mary Ann Scarborough, in another court filing, admits to having a relationship with another man, but she said it didn't start until months after she and her husband separated.

Wallace Scarborough denies any of this has hurt his campaign. That's especially true, he said, of what has been written in the Charleston City Paper.

"The Charleston City Paper has always been a rag," Scarborough said. "It's like the (supermarket tabloid) National Enquirer."

As for the residency issue, Scarborough said he rents a house in his district, a point supported by Mark Hartley, a Republican Party state executive committeeman from Mount Pleasant.

Hartley said the SCE&G issue has been "blown out of proportion."

Platt, who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House in 1990, declined to comment on Scarborough's divorce "or any other nonpolitical matter."

He has not decided whether to challenge Scarborough's residency in court.

Scarborough said Platt raised the residency issue only to add public scrutiny to the fact he is getting a divorce and to score political points. He also accuses Platt of hypocrisy.

A writer and poet, Platt has been divorced twice. In 1999, he published a book of poems called "Summer Days with Daughter" that includes several pieces with adult content that Scarborough criticizes for being "sexually explicit."

Despite the challenges he faces this year, Scarborough has the benefit of living in a strong Republican district. He faced Democratic opposition in 2004 and 2000. Both times he received more than 63 percent of the vote.

But Moore, the College of Charleston professor, said Scarborough is in danger.

"Eugene Platt has had a relatively high profile on James Island for a number of years and has been elected to public office," Moore said. "... Scarborough has become a political liability to the Republican Party, and this race is certainly one to watch in November."

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