Freedom Caucus unsuccessfully challenges Speaker in South Carolina House race

Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The South Carolina House opened its newest session with an unsuccessful long shot challenge of the Speaker that could be a preview of fighting among Republicans over which group truly deserves to identify as conservative. House Speaker Murrell Smith was elected to a second two-year term by a 102-17 vote. The opposition came from the GOP’s Freedom Caucus. The intraparty fight has brewed for years now. The Freedom Caucus said the state’s leading Republicans aren’t conservative enough. Mainstream Republicans say caucus members seem more determined to score points on social media than to do the work of governing.