Greenville Leader

South Carolina State House Candidate Chris Huff (R-28) said it’s concerning that any Republican candidate would have ties to left-wing political activist George Soros.

Kerri Smith (R-Simpsonville), who is also running for the 28th State House seat, works for, and is lobbying on behalf of, a group that has received more than $2 million from Soros, reported the Greenville Leader.

“I don't know just how deep those ties go,” Huff told the Greenville Leader. “I mean, that's a question that probably she should have an opportunity to answer.”

“But I think it's concerning for anybody to be running as a Republican and have ties to George Soros of any kind,” Huff said. “I mean, we know he is the number one financier and supporter of all things Democrat.”

Smith is South Carolina President of Self-Help Credit Union. She did not respond to Greenville Leader's requests for comment. 

An analysis of IRS filings show a sum of more than $3 million in actual payments and future approved payments from 2018 to 2022 by Soros’ "Foundation to Promote an Open Society" to the "Center for Responsible Lending," the Durham-based advocacy arm of Self-Help.

While the IRS forms show $2.385 million in grants paid out from the Soros foundation to the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), the foundation's website lists a total of $3.27 million in grants approved and announced since 2018. 

Soros is a "Democratic mega-donor," reported Politico, who "directed his wealth into an under-the-radar 2016 campaign to advance one of the progressive movement’s core goals — reshaping the American justice system." To that end, Soros spent "more than $17 million on local district attorney races across the country "in support of left-wing candidates," reported the NY Post.

His two primary organizations are the Open Society Foundations and the Foundation to Promote Open Society, which are "two multi-billion-dollar left-of-center advocacy grant making foundations" which have "funded the vast majority of the most prominent left-progressive advocacy groups in the United States," reported InfluenceWatch.

Self-Help and CRL were both created by North Carolinian Martin Eakes.

CRL has received more than $25 million during the past ten years from a foundation started by a N.C. couple who Time magazine ranked among “25 people to blame from the (2008) financial crisis,” reported Charleston Reporter.

State Rep. Robert May III (R-Lexington) told Palmetto State News it’s his understanding that Smith was recruited by House leadership to challenge incumbent State Rep. Ashley Trantham (R-28), who has since announced her retirement. 

Huff said May’s comments “speak for themselves” and that he only announced for the House seat after Trantham’s retirement, which was his “main motivation” for running.

Both Trantham and May have endorsed Huff’s campaign.

The 28th State House District is located within Greenville County.