South Carolina

Newt Gingrich’s daughter, Jackie Gingrich Cushman, has been on a five-stop campaign in South Carolina’s upstate area to clear her father’s name for election in 2012.

As expected, she received the inevitable questions even from supporters about his infidelity. Cushman is the daughter of Newt Gingrich and his first wife, Jackie Battley, who was rumored to have been in the hospital recovering from cancer when Gingrich requested a divorce.

In a series of small question and answer events, Cushman clarifies what she calls “misinformation” regarding her father. more >>

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, who recently rose to be a front-runner with Mitt Romney as his rival, chose a church as the first stop of his three-day campaign swing through South Carolina, where about 40 percent of the voters are evangelicals.

He reportedly met with 50 people at Faith Assembly of God in Summerville on Monday. The meeting was closed to the media but one participant later said the participating Christians, many of them pastors, asked Gingrich about his faith and his pro-life record.

“They asked how does God influence, how does your religion influence your decisions,” a supporter, Dana Bertoluzzi, was quoted by CNN as saying. “And he said that is very important to him, that faith is very important.” more >>

South Carolina might be in the Bible belt, but one local woman was recently caught using the Bible for something other than memorizing Scripture.

Law Enforcement agents in South Carolina say Shareca Latoya Jones recently mailed a package containing two hollowed-out Bibles in an attempt to smuggle weapons, drugs and a cell phone to a prison inmate.

Sheriff Barry Faile told WBTV News that authorities began investigating 28-year-old Jones earlier this month after a package mailed to Lieber Correctional Institution in Ridgeville, S.C., was returned by the Post Office to a local business. more >>

Former Focus on the Family head James Dobson and radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh can be heard praising Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry in a new radio ad from the pro-Perry super PAC “Make Us Great Again” airing in South Carolina.

In the ad, Dobson calls the Texas governor a “deeply committed Christian” and a courageous leader. Limbaugh says, “Rick Perry is a strong fiscal conservative,” according to Politico.

The South Carolina ad, showing Perry as both a conservative and a committed Christian, comes days after the Perry campaign began airing a radio ad in Iowa and New Hampshire. The South Carolina primary is set for Jan. 21. more >>

Public schools in South Carolina are being met with criticism again after allowing Christian-themed rallies to take place on school grounds.

Last month, a Christian rapper known as B-SHOC performed at a daytime rally at New Heights Middle School in Chesterfield County alongside youth evangelist Christian Chapman, resulting in much controversy.

The rapper identified as Bryan Edmonds had posted a YouTube video about the event held for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, and commented that 324 students had gotten saved. more >>

Mitt Romney is not the only GOP candidate being bashed because of his faith; Rick Perry's wife has also revealed how a lot of the criticism her husband is facing has been due to his religious beliefs.

Anita Perry said on Thursday her husband was being attacked for his faith.

"We are being brutalized by our opponents, and our own party," Perry said at a speech at North Greenville University in South Carolina where she touched on politics and religion. “So much of that is, I think they look at him, because of his faith." more >>