Candidate wants to pull Confederate flag from S.C. Statehouse

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Vincent Sheheen wants South Carolina to remove the Confederate flag that currently flies on Statehouse grounds.

Sheheen was joined by the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor Bakari Sellers and several mayors Wednesday in calling for the removal of the flag. Sheheen becomes the most prominent political voice to call for the flag’s removal since it was moved from atop the capitol dome to a pole just south of the Confederate soldier’s monument in front of the Statehouse in a 2000 compromise.

Sheheen said South Carolina needs to remove the flag to compete effectively in a global market.

The law that removed the flag from the dome calls for a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate to move the flag again.

ASSOCIATED PRESS