It’s Too Little, Too Late in HD 38.

BREAKING NEWS — 3:42 p. m.: After what some bloggers and MSM reporters considered a foregone conclusion (see here and here and here), former Landrum mayor Doug Brannon will not appear on the November ballot to face Republican Joey Millwood and Democrat Mark Chambers in the SC House District 38 race.

Brannon submitted 983 signatures yesterday 10 minutes before the filing deadline, but the Spartanburg County Voter Registration Board disqualified more than 90 out of the first 500 signatures reviewed today.

With 915 signatures necessary to qualify for the ballot, the disqualified signatures put Brannon well below the threshold to appear as a petition candidate.

Brannon indicated to the Herald-Journal’s Jason Spencer earlier in the week that if disqualified he would weigh “the options it would leave him — including running as a write-in candidate.”

The winner of the November contest will replace outgoing Representative Bob Walker, the 15 year incumbent defeated by Millwood in the June 10 primary.

– Wilson Charles