Ex-Gov. Beasley may try for U.S. Senate

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Former South Carolina Gov. David Beasley is rumored to be considering a last minute bid for a U.S. Senate seat.

Beasley, a one-term Republican governor, was voted out after an acrimonious 1998 re-election bid, during which he was battered by his political base for trying to take a Confederate flag down from atop the state capitol building.

Interest in the potential candidacy came after a Republican consultant began sharing results from a statewide poll he commissioned showing Beasley winning easily.

The poll had Beasley at 24 percent among likely GOP primary voters. Former Lt. Gov. Bob Peeler, who recently said he would not run, was second with 16 percent, while U.S. Rep. Jim DeMint and former state Attorney General Charlie Condon tied for third at 8 percent.

Beasley's career in electoral politics was believed over after the 1998 campaign, in which he was forced to call a news conference to deny allegations of an extramarital affair with a former aide.