State Gov, Politics reporter @thestate, previous: @bellevillenewsd, et al @MedillSchool alum. Miami, FL native. [email protected]. Not State Rep @JoeBustos19

Columbia, SC
Joined January 2014
Joseph Bustos 🔥 retweeted
One of the best.
The formidable Sammy Fretwell, South Carolina’s finest environmental reporter in generations, says good-bye Monday to The State after being laid off after an almost 50-year career
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Joseph Bustos 🔥 retweeted
It’s my last day covering politics at The State. I’m so thankful for my talented colleagues who made me a better reporter over the past 16 months. Writing about state government and elections has been a real joy, and I’m grateful The State gave me a chance to do this work.
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Joseph Bustos 🔥 retweeted
South Carolina reports 501,944 voters cast an early ballot in the state's first week of two weeks of no-excuse early voting w/ Greenville and Charleston still leading. Early voting ends Oct. 31. Total general election early voting ballots cast: 2022: 561,563 2024: 1.47 million
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Joseph Bustos 🔥 retweeted
Summerville PD has asked SLED to investigate ex-officer and current Democratic statehouse candidate Montez Aiken following allegations he sent inappropriate text messages to former students while he was employed as a school resource officer. postandcourier.com/politics/…
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Joseph Bustos 🔥 retweeted
U.S. Sen. Darline Graham recently arrived at Trump’s SC rally, where the president is expected to speak at 7 p.m. Fun fact: the rally is being held less than 10 miles from where Graham grew up in Central, SC.
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Joseph Bustos 🔥 retweeted
Assuming SEC still updating the page, but appears that nearly 94,000 people voted on South Carolina's second day of early voting, bringing the total number of early voters so far to nearly 192,000. Charleston and Greenville leading the pack. scvotes.gov/wp-content/uploa…
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Joseph Bustos 🔥 retweeted
Graham camp's response to last night's ProPublica article.
Any allegations of quid-pro-quo behavior or wrongdoing by the late Senator Lindsey Graham or his staff are simply false. It’s embarrassing that ProPublica, a George Soros funded operation, is legitimizing the ravings of a convicted felon, Martin Kao, who clearly would have said anything to save himself. Adding insult to injury, ProPublica has chosen to publish this story when Senator Graham cannot defend himself because he tragically passed away in July. While it may not be convenient for ProPublica’s narrative or Martin Kao’s attempt to escape responsibility for his criminal activities, the federal funding in question was requested by the University of South Carolina and supported by the U.S. Navy. And finally, Senator Lindsey Graham’s office was never contacted by the FBI.
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Joseph Bustos 🔥 retweeted
The 2028 maybes keep on coming to South Carolina. SC Democratic Party advises this morning that Sen. Elissa Slotkin will visit Dorchester County Wednesday as early voting is underway before Election Day.
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Joseph Bustos 🔥 retweeted
I asked Graham for her reaction to Trump‘s decision to waive sanctions on Russia, despite signing a sanctions bill last month that was named for her brother. Graham said she disagreed with the president and planned to talk with him when he’s in SC campaigning for her next week.
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Joseph Bustos 🔥 retweeted
Jermaine Johnson's gov campaign says DNC Chairman Ken Martin will travel to Lancaster and York counties on Sunday for several events that ends with a get-out-the-vote rally that will include 5th District Dem nominee Mallory Dittmer.
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Joseph Bustos 🔥 retweeted
First in @playbookdc: @ReverendWarnock’s final midterm sprint will take him to a number of early primary states, including NH, NV, SC and MI, ramping up 2028 speculation.
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Joseph Bustos 🔥 retweeted
President Trump scheduled to return to South Carolina later this month, and Senate Majority Leader Thune also in the state before Election Day for Graham, per New York Times. nytimes.com/2026/10/04/us/po…
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Joseph Bustos 🔥 retweeted
Your reminder that Clemson will get through a game Friday at Cal without a lightning delay… …but Cal’s stadium is built on a fault line.
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Joseph Bustos 🔥 retweeted
2028 watch: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker will be a featured guest at the NAACP South Carolina State Conference's annual convention next month in Columbia. Per advisory, other speakers include Virginia's House Speaker Don Scott.
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