Platt Questions Scarborough on Residency Status

Br Robert Behre and Schuyler Kropf

Eugene Platt, the Democratic challenger for James Island’s Statehouse seat, said incumbent Wallace Scarborough should clear up the issue of where he lives after recent news stories and community speculation raised questions.

“I am not calling for his resignation. I’m just asking for him to tell us what the situation is,” Platt said Monday. “I’m just asking him to tell us if and when he plans to move back.”

Scarborough, a Republican seeking his fourth two-year term in House District 115, said he lives on Paddle Creek Avenue in James Island’s Cross Creek subdivision. He also sometimes stays at his family home at 1547 Fairway Drive and has taken care of a house for his parents who live outside the district in West Ashley.

Scarborough, who is going through a divorce, said he hasn’t changed any of his paperwork, such as his voter registration or driver’s license, to reflect his new Paddle Creek address but plans to do so.

“I’ve been there long enough,” he said, adding that the county’s Board of Election and Voter Registration would uphold his legal residency status, if asked.

Platt said Scarborough might not have lived in District 115 for more than a year and instead has resided at his parents’ home in The Crescent neighborhood in West Ashley, which is in state Rep. John Graham Altman’s district. That was where Scarborough fired a gun during a confrontation with two SCE&G linemen last month. He was jailed on a charge of assault and battery with intent to kill, a charge that was later dropped.

Platt said that incident “raised a red flag” about the lawmaker’s residence. “It’s been generally known that he’s not been living on Fairway Drive,” Platt said.

Platt said he would consult with Charleston County Democratic Party Chairman Waring Howe before deciding whether to ask the county election board to review Scarborough’s residency status.

Howe agreed with Platt Monday that Scarborough owes voters an explanation about where he has been living.

“There’s been a lack of straightforwardness in that regard,” Howe said.

Reprinted from the Post and Courier.