Anderson's Cooper Quits!!!

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Me Too!! I almost had a heart attack when I read this headline. I had to read the rest of the copy in a hurry in order for my breath to come back to my lungs. Phew! What a scare!!

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Anderson's Cooper turns in resignation letter

By Liz Carey
Anderson Independent Mail
Posted April 29, 2011 at 1:07 p.m., updated April 29, 2011 at 4:06 p.m.

COLUMBIA — In a letter to Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives dated Wednesday, state Rep. Dan Cooper wrote of his plans to resign his post as of June 29.

In his letter to Bobby Harrell, a Charleston Republican, the 50-year-old Republican from Piedmont in Anderson County wrote, “It is with some sadness that I write this letter. As you know, I have been around this institution since I was 13 years old as a member or the son of a member. However, the time has come for me to turn the page and spend more time with my family and help prepare for the future of my children, and so I hereby tender my resignation as the chairman of Ways and Means and from the South Carolina House effective on June 29, 2011.”

Cooper said he has been considering the resignation for some time. Since January, rumors have circled throughout Columbia that he would step down.

“I have been struggling with this for a while,” Cooper wrote in an e-mail Friday to the Independent Mail. “It’s a cliche, but I need to spend more time with my family and prepare for college tuition, etc. Also my mother will be 88 in September. Twenty-one years is a long time to stay in the S.C. House.”

Since June 2005, Cooper has served as the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Cooper made his resignation plans known Friday to the members of that committee. The next meeting of that group is set for May 3, and a new chairman will be elected then.

Republican members of the Ways and Means committee indicated in March that they would elect Rep. Brian White, an Anderson Republican, for the chairmanship. White could not be reached Friday for comment.

Other Anderson County Legislative Delegation members said Cooper would be missed.

“Cooper is one of the last great statesmen of our time,” said Rep. Mike Gambrell, a Republican from Honea Path. “People just don’t know how much he did behind the scenes to benefit not just Anderson County, but the state of South Carolina in general. He knew how to get legislation pushed through. He knew how to bring people together.” He was a great mentor for me in my short term here. But my hat’s off to him for going out on his terms.”

A graduate of Wren High School and Clemson University, Cooper is vice president of Capstone Insurance Company in Greenville. Cooper is also a board member for Freedom Weekend Aloft as well as a member of the Hunley Commission. Previously, he has served as a board member for the Boys Home of the South and for the legislative advisory board of Palmetto Pride, South Carolina’s anti-litter group.

Over the course of his legislative career, Cooper served on the Joint Bond Review Committee, and was a member of the Joint Tax Study Committee, the House Medical, Military and Municipal Affairs Committee, the Education and Public Works Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee.

Cooper lives in Piedmont with his wife, Missy, and their two children, Leanne Alexandra and Daniel.

He said he has no plans to run for any other office or to continue a career in politics.