McConnell to step down as state's No. 2 today

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For the second time in as many years, the position of lieutenant governor will be vacant after incumbent Glenn F. McConnell, 66, steps down today to prepare for his new role as the 22nd president of the College of Charleston.

McConnell will not assume his new position with the College of Charleston until July, though he will start work there next week to transition into the position. McConnell has held the state’s No. 2 position for two years, having assumed the role constitutionally after the resignation of Ken Ard due to ethics violations and criminal charges.

But with a special extended session planned June 17-19 to ratify the state’s budget and tie-up any legislative loose ends, McConnell’s resignation is “bad timing,” said Sen. Kevin Johnson, D-Manning, on Wednesday.

“In my two years working in the Senate, I have come to have the utmost respect for Lt. Gov. McConnell,” Johnson said. “While I understand his reasons for resigning, it is just not the best timing for the Senate.” According to The State, Senate Judiciary Leader Larry Martin, R-Pickens, asked McConnell to delay his resignation until the completion of the extended session. No lieutenant governor will be needed afterward, and a new one will be sworn-in next January after the November general election. The person next-in-line, Senate President Pro Tempore John Courson, R-Columbia, resigned from his powerful Senate post late Wednesday afternoon to avoid being forced by the state Constitution to take what he told The State was a “weak, part-time No. 2 position.”

“I will not be lieutenant governor,” Courson told The State.

McConnell said Monday he did not want to force Courson to make a decision, but that he faced the same decision in 2012.

"You have to move up or move out," McConnell said. "When I became president pro tempore, with it came the power, but there was also a chance I could have to step up."

Aside from his new position, McConnell has said he resigned earlier than expected after "concerns were raised about (his) supposed favoritism of one senator over another for a crucial vote for a bill making the College of Charleston the state's full-fledged research university."