John Crangle
Democratic · SC
Columbia attorney and former director of South Carolina Common Cause who wrote a book on Statehouse corruption. Priorities include reducing crime and raising police pay.
Where John Crangle stands, based on their records
Supports
Government Efficiency (2 records), Government Spending Reduction (3 records)
Track record
Track record — Government Efficiency
Government Efficiency · 2 support
Published a commentary urging South Carolina to abolish its 124-member House and keep only the 46-member Senate. He said the House costs $30 million a year.
April 30, 2024Supports Government Efficiency
Source: yahoo.com
Backed law professor Ken Gaines and computer scientist Duncan Buell for seats on the Richland County elections board, as a Common Cause leader. He wanted new members after voters waited hours at the polls in November 2012.
March 12, 2014Supports Government Efficiency
Source: postandcourier.com
Track record — Government Spending Reduction
Government Spending Reduction · 3 support
Published a commentary arguing that convicted and removed officials should pay for the special elections held to replace them, instead of taxpayers.
June 29, 2024Supports Government Spending Reduction
Source: yahoo.com
Published a commentary urging South Carolina to abolish its 124-member House and keep only the 46-member Senate. He said the House costs $30 million a year.
April 30, 2024Supports Government Spending Reduction
Source: yahoo.com
Sued, with the S.C. Public Interest Foundation, to stop Attorney General Alan Wilson's $75 million payment to two Columbia law firms. The fee was for their work that won South Carolina $600 million from federal officials.
October 1, 2020Supports Government Spending Reduction
Source: lexingtonchronicle.com
Track record — General
General · 6 records
Lost his lawsuit over the $75 million lawyer fee payment when the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled the Attorney General had authority to pay the law firms directly.
November 12, 2025
Source: sccourts.org
Won a ruling from the South Carolina Supreme Court that let his lawsuit over the $75 million lawyer fee payment go forward. The court reversed a lower court that said he had no standing to sue.
September 14, 2022
Source: sccourts.org
Testified before a South Carolina Senate subcommittee in 1990 about bribes, kickbacks, and shakedowns at the Statehouse.
September 28, 2016
Source: charlestoncitypaper.com
Published a 607-page history of Operation Lost Trust, the 1990 federal bribery sting in South Carolina, and the ethics reforms that followed. He wrote it while leading Common Cause South Carolina.
May 16, 2016
Source: postandcourier.com
Argued publicly, as Common Cause director, that taxpayers were still paying for Gov. Nikki Haley's campaign trips. He pointed to the state officers and state vehicle that traveled with her.
November 16, 2013
Source: postandcourier.com
Criticized the salaries and expense accounts of Benedict College's president and other leaders in a TV interview, while a history professor there. The college dismissed him in May 1992. A national AAUP committee later found the dismissal disregarded academic freedom and tenure principles.
January 15, 1992
Source: aaup.org
Past race John Crangle ran in:
- Richland County Council District 6 · November 3, 2026 · Richland County, South Carolina