Ex-candidate for SC legislature sues opponent, pollster and journalist for defamation
Longtime S.C. Sen. Luke Rankin won a contentious reelection campaign during last year’s Republican primary, but that clash has been renewed in the court system after his former opponent filed a defamation suit.
John Gallman filed the complaint Wednesday against Rankin and a host of other entities and people, including an Horry County councilman, local reporter and national pollster, alleging a coordinated conspiracy to spread defamatory accusations and confidential health records, along with violating campaign finance laws.
Gallman forced a run-off primary election with Rankin, who has been in office since 1993, before numerous media reports publicized prior domestic violence accusations against Gallman. Those accusations were cited in numerous campaign ads leading up to the June 23 run-off, and Rankin ended up winning with more than 58% of the votes.
These accusations first came to light, Gallman alleges, after a “dossier” containing select documents from his divorce file were distributed to numerous media organizations across the state.
Accusations published, advertised
The suit focuses on an article published June 16 by MyHorryNews.com, operated by Waccamaw Publishers Inc., which is named as a defendant along with the reporter of that article. That article includes information from a forensic interview with Gallman’s 10-year-old daughter, which the complaint states were included in the dossier despite being confidential and protected from disclosure by state law.
Those illegally disclosed records were then included in numerous campaign ads from Rankin and associated entities supporting his reelection despite a request to cease doing so by the director of Children’s Recovery Center, which conducted the forensic interview, according to the suit.
The complaint specifically notes an advertisement submitted to WMBF News that purportedly included information from The Horry Independent article before it was published as part of “coordinated communications.”
That ad and others were paid for by entities funded or run by a group including national pollster Robert Cahaly, of Atlanta- based Trafalgar Group, and Horry County Councilman Tyler Servant, Gallman alleges. Servant violated a state ethics law restricting public officials from contributing to another candidate’s campaign, according to the suit.
Rankin, Cahaly and Servant did not respond to requests for comment, while the editor of MyHorryNews.com declined to comment.
Gallman is seeking unspecified damages on causes of defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy and civil conspiracy.
The Sun News also published an article June 16 detailing the domestic violence accusations and other findings from Gallman’s divorce file, but was not named in the suit. The Sun News’ article was “legally sufficient to avoid such liability,” according to Gallman’s attorney, Tucker Player.
This story was originally published February 25, 2021 at 3:07 PM.
