SCGOP CHAIR RACE: BELTRAM DEFINITELY IN, MCCALL OUT, FLOYD M.I.A.

Less than 72 hours ago, Katon Dawson announced that he would not seek a fourth term as South Carolina GOP Chairman. But already the crowded field of would-be candidates is beginning to take shape.

Columbia attorney Kevin Hall was the first to announce his decision to seek the post more than a month ago, but there have been doubts as to the intentions of three potential opponents.

Rick Beltram, the current Spartanburg County chair, began handing out campaign literature the moment Dawson announced he would not be running for election Saturday. Today, however, a local blog claimed Beltram was already considering dropping out — a rumor Beltram vigorously denied.

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” Beltram told The Palmetto Scoop today. “We’re going to formally announce the campaign Tuesday or Wednesday and we’ll be hitting the ground running.”

But not everyone is making their intentions as well known as Beltram.

Former South Carolina Schools Superintendent candidate Karen Floyd, who is expected to announce her candidacy any day now, has dropped off the map.

Spartanburg Herald-Journal reporter Jason Spencer has been unable to contact Floyd and says that he hears she is instead considering a run for mayor of Spartanburg.

The folks at SC Hotline, however, insist that Floyd will run for SCGOP chair.

Party activists dissatisfied with their current choices quickly narrowed the list to those they thought could win. Namely, McCall and Floyd. A source close to Floyd made it clear that she would defer to McCall and support him, should he run.

Adding weight to the SC Hotline post is the fact that The Palmetto Scoop has confirmed that McCall will not seek the SCGOP post, preferring instead to remain as RNC National Committeeman. This, of course, despite holding a resounding lead in TPS’s interactive chairman’s race poll — 43 percent at the time of this post.