An SC school board member sued him over Facebook comments. Now, he’s running for the board

The man being sued by a Lexington-Richland 5 school board member over his Facebook comments is now running for a seat on the school board.

Kevin Scully has filed to run for a seat in the Richland County side of the district. Scully is one of several candidates running for Midlands school board seats this November, but he stands out as someone in a high-profile legal fight with someone he may end up serving with on the board.

“I’m thankful for the community where my family lives, daughter goes to school, and where my wife has taught for 24 years,” Scully said in a Facebook post. “I would appreciate your support and help as we work together to bring our district back to being a place of excellence and a leader in education in our state.”

In March, current Lexington-Richland 5 school board member Ken Loveless filed suit against Scully, the husband of a district schoolteacher, for allegedly libelous comments he claims Scully made about him on Facebook.

In that lawsuit, Scully is accused of saying, “Crooked Ken is an unethical hypocrite and a liar” and “Wow, he is a loser,” among other criticism of Loveless’ handling of ethics issues on the board.

Scully has rejected those accusations in court filings, denying that he’s made any libelous or untrue statements and accusing Loveless of trying to silence his critics.

The two legal opponents won’t directly face off in November. Loveless is up for reelection but is running to represent the Lexington County side of the district. In Richland County, Scully will face incumbents Nikki Gardner and Tiffani Moore, who had not yet filed for another term as of Wednesday morning, as well as Kimberly Snipes of Irmo, who works for the South Carolina Bar. The top two vote-getters will win seats on the school board for the next four years.

On the Lexington County side of the district, Loveless has filed to run for another term, as has Mike Satterfield, a former principal at Chapin High School; local business owner Elizabeth Barnhardt; and J. Renard Green. Board chair Jan Hammond had not filed to run for another term as of Wednesday.

Scully did not return a request for comment from The State. The deadline for school board candidates to file is noon Monday.