SC Senator Tom Davis's Conversion from Respected Statesman to Dirty Politician

Campaign Contributions From Health Czar Benefactor Bill Stern Likely Reveals Why SC Sen. Tom Davis Defended Psychiatrist Ed Simmer Until The Very End

At the South Carolina Senate Medical Affairs Committee meeting on Thursday, April 3rd, Senator Tom Davis delivered an emotional plea to his colleagues before voicing an “aye” vote in support of confirming Psychiatrist Ed Simmer as the first Director of the new Public Health Department.

During Sen. Davis’s statement, an outburst came from the crowd when Davis said, “…but at the end of the day, do you truly think that the governor is in clear error? Do you think that he has truly put forward somebody who is unfit? Who is not qualified? Who doesn’t have the competency?”

Although the crowd outburst is not heard in the video recording due to there being no microphones in the audience, the participants speaking out together yelled out a resounding, “Yes!”

To restore order, Senator Verdin, banged his gavel and threatened attendees that they may be forced to leave by saying, “Sergeant, we’ll clear this room. We’ll maintain the decorum. Sergeant, next outburst.”

When the votes were counted, Senator Davis’s plea to his fellow Senators was not enough to turn the tide brought forth by citizens who are still outraged over Ed Simmer’s actions since becoming Director of DHEC in 2021. Senator Tom Davis lost the vote 12-5 and out of 13 Republicans on the committee, he was the only Republican who voted in favor of Simmer.

In a previous article we published titled An Enemy of Our Medical Freedom, Dr. Edward Simmer, Gets Appointed by Gov. McMaster While McMaster’s Comrade, Sen. Josh Kimbrell, Considers Run for Governor, we reported that the “biggest single benefactor (of the health czar bill) was going to be Bill Stern, a major donor to Gov. McMaster’s 2018 presidential campaign.” Stern is reportedly a member of the AIPAC National Council, a Director of Ameris Bank, President & CEO of Stern Development, the Chairman of the Board of the South Carolina State Ports Authority, and a member of the board of the South Carolina Coordinating Council of Economic Development. Below you can see an image of the donations Governor McMaster received from Bill Sterns during his 2018 campaign for Governor, a total of $73,500.

With Bill Stern being the person that would be the biggest benefactor of the health czar bill due to his exclusive “right” to the real estate dealings associated with it, it’s interesting that Stern made three different $1,000 donations to Sen. Davis on June 26th, 2024. One donation was made under his own name and the other two were made from his own LLC’s, one being 4825 SH 30 LLC and the other being 3072 N Hwy 17 LLC. These “mysterious” LLC’s had never donated to a campaign before.

Only seven weeks before Stern made the donations to Sen. Davis, Rep. Josiah Magnuson had single handedly stopped the 2024 health czar bill from getting signed by Gov. McMaster. When Rep. Magnuson made the procedural move, Sen. Davis furiously entered the house chamber and pleaded with Rep. Magnuson and Rep. Pace to reverse what they had done (Rep. Pace had given Rep. Magnuson the tip on how to stop the bill during the moment the House needed unanimous consent to pass the bill). The photo below, still shown as Sen. Davis’s cover photo on X, is a snapshot of the battle that occurred.

Stern made the three contributions to Sen. Davis’s 2024 campaign on the same date when 15 other campaign contributions were given to the campaign which means they likely made the donations to Sen. Davis at a campaign fundraiser event. Along with Sterns, the President and CEO of Prisma Health, Mark O’Halla also made a donation on the same day. Two partners with Burr & Forman, one named David Tigges and the other named Randolph Lowell, combined together to make four donations. Lowell made donations from three of his own “mysterious” companies: Praetorian Trading Ltd Co, Iron Elephant Ltd Co, and Sparrowhark Entertainment Ltd Co. The companies are “mysterious” as internet searches do not pull business websites for any of the companies.

Another organization that made a $1,000 campaign contribution to Sen. Davis on June 26th was the Hospital Association Political Action Committee which boasts in having the Burr Forman law firm as a corporate sponsor (the law firm both Tigges and Lowell are partners in). Other sponsors of the Hospital Association Political Action Committee can be seen below.

Along with the campaign contributions that came in on June 26th are six campaign contributors that likely would benefit from a Health Czar-controlled healthcare system: Human, Inc; National Health Corporation Political Action Committee; AHMP Holdings Corp Political Action Committee; Friends of Spartanburg Regional for a Healthy S.C.; Southern Regional Healthcare PAC; and South Carolina Health Care PAC.

A further review of campaign contributions shows that Sen. Davis has received six contributions from the very left-leaning Conservations Voters of South Carolina, an organization that we have written extensively about in the article titled How the Conspicously Gay “Conservation Voters of South Carolina” are working with Republicans Like Scott Talley, Patrick Haddon, and Others to Destroy South Carolina in the Name of Equity.

All in all, Sen. Davis has been a huge disappointment to those who once thought he sought to be South Carolina’s future Ron Paul. In January 2012, Sen. Davis endorsed Ron Paul for President. Jason Volack of ABC News reported that, “Davis blamed lobbyists and loopholes for “rotting out our republic to the core…That’s what happening in South Carolina and that’s what’s happening to our nation.”

Sen. Davis’s last moment of being respected by Ron Paul supporters was on January 8th, 2013 when he spoke at the Nullify Obamacare Rally at the South Carolina capitol. Shortly after the rally, Congressman Mick Mulvaney met with Sen. Davis and Davis pulled completely out of supporting the nullify Obamacare movement. Interestingly, the former Congressman made two or three $1,000 donations to Sen. Davis’s campaign in June of last year (it is unknown to us if the John Mulvaney located at 518 Ralph Hood Road is the same as the John Mulvaney located at 550 Ralph Hood Road).

Since 2013, it seems that Sen. Davis lost his way. Tragically, almost 10 years to the day after speaking at the Nullify Obamacare Rally, Sen. Davis was embarrassingly arrested for public intoxication while in his vehicle after a New Year’s party. His reply when the police officer asked him what he did for work, “I’m a state senator.”

In 10 years, Sen. Davis went from being a statesman in the minds of many South Carolinians to being a man that turned into a politician due to his inability to restrain himself from worldly desires.

Sen. Davis summed up himself the best during the final minutes of the committee hearing, “…to the extent that he undertook, I’m speaking of Dr. Simmer now, of efforts to encourage people to take the vaccine or facilitate in taking the vaccine — if he is guilty of some dereliction of duty in that regard than I am derelict as well because I spent a lot of time in that regard. I helped.”

Yes, Senator Tom Davis, you and Ed Simmer are guilty. We have lost trust in you and are aware of who financially supports you.