Pickens County, South Carolina

Republican candidates running for statewide office in Idaho's November general election hold a clear fundraising edge over their Democratic and independent challengers, according to state campaign finance reports.

Incumbent Gov. Brad Little leads all statewide candidates, having raised just over $2.3 million in 2026, with no other candidate approaching $1 million. Among Little's challengers, independent John Stegner has raised $516,520 and Democrat Terri Pickens has brought in $217,520.

Little's contributions are split roughly evenly between individuals (about $1.2 million) and companies (nearly $1.1 million), with the remainder from political action committees; most of his money, about $1.7 million, came from within Idaho. Stegner and Pickens each drew a much larger share of their funds from individual donors rather than companies, and both raised the bulk of their contributions in-state as well.

The fundraising gap underscores the Republican Party's continued financial dominance in Idaho politics ahead of the November 3 general election.

The Pickens, South Carolina City Council has voted unanimously to authorize its city attorney to negotiate a separation from city administrator Tim O'Briant, who had served in the role for about two and a half years. The council gave no public reason for the move, and O'Briant says he has not been told why. The vote followed an Aug. 19 decision to suspend him without pay, also without a stated cause, and came after a lengthy closed-door session at an Aug. 24 special meeting.

Council member Jonathan Baker, who has publicly clashed with O'Briant since his campaign last fall, described months of conflict and alleged retaliation against others who crossed the administrator, tracing tension back to a 2024 decision to leave the Pickens Regional Joint Water System. O'Briant has denied any financial or criminal wrongdoing, saying the dispute concerns his management style and the council's oversight of it. He was hired in January 2024 after leaving a role in Aiken city government.

The Pickens, South Carolina, City Council voted 4-3 on Aug. 27 to terminate City Administrator Tim O'Briant "for cause," a designation that voids any severance under his employment contract. The vote came after the council first rejected a negotiated severance agreement in a separate, closer vote. Councilmember Allie Winter, joining by phone, cast the deciding vote both times.

O'Briant, hired in January 2024, disputes that there was any legitimate cause for his firing and says he had offered to accept half of his contractually owed severance before the council instead chose to deny him any payout — a decision he warns will prove costly and embarrassing for the city. He has characterized the conflict as rooted in personality and management-style clashes, not misconduct or financial wrongdoing. The dispute traces partly to tension with Councilmember Jonathan Baker, who has accused O'Briant of retaliating against employees and residents who crossed him, including over the city's 2024 decision to leave a regional water system amid disputes with Greenville Water.