COLUMBIA (WACH, AP) -- While South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley continues a statewide tour unveiling lawmaker report cards, state Democrats are handing out some grades of their own.
On Monday, Haley handed out her first set of grades in Rock Hill at a town hall meeting. She promised the reports cards back in March. The meeting was the first in seven city tour of the state that wraps up in Florence October 18. A second meeting was held Tuesday night in Irmo.
Haley says the report cards are a way of holding lawmakers accountable for supporting her agenda. The grades broke mostly along party lines.
Haley gave 14 F's in the Senate, all of them to Democratic lawmakers. The governor gave 23 House members F's, all of them Democrats as well.
The "failing" lawmakers include Senator Darrell Jackson of Richland County, Senator John Scott of Richland County, Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter of Orangeburg, and Representative Todd Rutherford of Richland County.
On Tuesday, Rutherford and other state Democrats responded, hammering Haley about the state's 11.1 percent unemployment rate, which is fourth highest in the nation.
"We need government that is about leadership," said Rutherford, a Richland County Democrat. "If we are serioius about bringing jobs to South Carolina we need to be serious about education in South Carolina. We need to be serious about healthcare in South Carolina and this governor simply is not."
Rutherford, flanked by Rep. Bakari Sellers and Rep. Boyd Brown, who also received F's, unveiled Haley's job peformance evaluation at state Democratic Party headquarters Tuesday afternoon. State Democrats gave Haley an F on issues tied to jobs, honesty, government restructuring and transparency.
Haley earned one A-plus from the Democrats, who gave her that mark for what they termed "pay-to-play politics," accusing the governor of putting campaign supporters and political allies in prominent roles in state government.
"If she's going to grade us and we're failing by her standards then she's failing the people of South Carolina by their standards," said Fairfield County Democrat Rep. Boyd Brown.
The governor gave 12 A's in the Senate and 61 in the House. Senator Yancey McGill of Williamsburg was the lone Democratic senator to earn an A-grade from the governor.
Lawmakers with A's include Republican Senator Ronnie Cromer of Newberry, Republican Representative Nathan Ballentine of Richland County, and Republican Representative Joan Brady of Richland County.
Gov. Haley campaigned on holding legislators accountable for supporting or opposing her priorities. She said in March she would grade legislators on their work on issues important to her.
That included more recorded votes; a new Cabinet-level agency to oversee much of the state's bureaucracy and spending caps.
Lawmakers have said the report cards are a political move and do not mean much.
Click here to see how each lawmaker was graded.
What do you think about Governor Haley's report cards? Post your comments below.