May 20, 2008
Unprecedented growth and shifting demographics could make House District 79, which includes portions of Northeast Richland and southwest Kershaw County, less reliably Republican than it has been over the past two decades.
Rep. Bill Cotty, a Republican who has represented the district for 12 years, recently announced he won’t seek re-election.
Three Republicans are competing in the June 10 primary to earn the party’s nomination for the seat. The winner will face a tough test in the fall from a well-funded Democrat who narrowly lost to Cotty two years ago.
Cotty said he's stepping down after a two-decade grind in politics.
"It's time for me to go do something else, said Cotty, whose proudest achievements include helping to move the Confederate flag from the State House dome, reducing residential property taxes and reforming welfare. "Including my time on the (Richland 2) school board, it's been a 22-year sentence. I haven't done anything that bad."
Cotty's departure leaves the fate of one of the state's fastest-growing districts in the hands of one of four competitors, two of whom have run before.
The Republicans running are:
• Sheri Few, 45, a Lugoff small business owner and former chairwoman of the Kershaw County Republican Party
• David Herndon, 40, an Elgin small business owner and former chairman of the Kershaw County GOP
• Tony Lamm, a Pontiac financial services consultant and a political newcomer
Already, questionable out-of-state money is filling one candidate's bank account, and speculation has begun over whether the Democrat that the Republican primary winner will face in November — Northeast Richland community organizer Anton Gunn — will be helped or hurt by ties to presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Cotty predicts the winner will hone in on a handful of key issues that district residents hold dear: maintaining Kershaw County and Richland 2's award-winning public schools in the midst of an unprecedented population boom, holding down taxes and building and widening roads.
GROWING PAINS
Years ago, district residents pined for shops and restaurants in their rural community that was so far removed from Columbia that Clemson University tested fire ant pesticides and raised pigs there.
Now, residents want relief from the pains of rapid growth — the daily traffic jams on Hard Scrabble Road and overcrowded schools in West Wateree.
The need for cash to tackle growth and changing demographics could favor Gunn, who narrowly lost to Cotty in 2006.
Others like Rod Shealy Jr., campaign consultant for Republican challenger Herndon, point out that a petition candidate, Michael Letts, siphoned a lot of conservative votes away from Cotty in that race.
District 79, the third largest in the state in terms of registered voters, is nearly one-third African-American — with 10,669 African-Americans and 18,381 whites — another fact that could favor a Democrat.
"The demographics of that district are trending more and more Democratic by the day," said Joe Werner, executive director of the S.C. Democratic Party.
But Few thinks the district is still majority Republican. New approaches to building infrastructure will keep it GOP turf, she said.
"Especially as a conservative candidate, it is a challenge to address infrastructure needs without going against your principles and raising taxes," Few said. "But it can be done with out-of-the-box thinking."
For example, Few supports a House bill to allow local governments to charge a tax to new homeowners to pay for roads and other infrastructure.
Herndon, who is aligning himself with Cotty, said: "It's a seat that is going to be very close, but I think it can and will stay in Republican hands."
While Cotty has not officially endorsed anyone, Herndon has received a $250 campaign donation from Cotty's wife, Amelia Cotty.
EDUCATION DOLLARS
Spending public dollars to pay for private schools was an issue that dominated the Republican primary for this seat two years ago.
Only one candidate supports tax incentives for parents who send their children to private schools: Few, who ran on the issue in 2006.
About $5,000 of Few's nearly $30,000 in contributions is from education voucher advocate Howard Rich, a New York millionaire, and his political allies.
The group is linked to tens of thousands of dollars in 2006 campaign contributions to S.C. General Assembly candidates. Rich and his allies' causes include private school tax credits and limiting government spending.
A loophole in the S.C. campaign finance law allows a person with 10 corporations to donate 10 times the amount of an average person.
Few also accepted about $12,000 in contributions during her 2006 run for the seat, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics.
Few points out that the lion's share of her contributions are from local sources and that she has long supported school tax credits.
"I've been a proponent of school choice long before ... any of these other groups were formed in our state. It's well documented," said Few, who is president of the nonprofit S.C. Parents Involved in Education.
But Republican challenger Herndon says Few's acceptance of the contributions breaks a campaign promise between the two to run a clean campaign.
In a letter to Few, Herndon wrote: "Because of SCRG's history of running negative and personal 'attack' campaigns and distorting the records of Republican office-holders, I am asking you to sever your ties to this group."
Herndon has raised slightly more than $1,000, according to his latest filings with the state Ethics Commission, while a fourth candidate, Lamm, has raised about $2,000 and loaned himself $5,000.
Lamm is the only candidate who has not criticized Few for her out-of-state contributions.
"That's her decision," Lamm said. "But I personally won't support vouchers. Over 90 percent of our kids go to public schools. I'm not for subsidizing private schools at public schools' expense."
Meanwhile, Gunn has raised nearly $14,000 and is gaining ground with the party faithful and Obama supporters.
Obama, with the help of South Carolinians like Gunn, launched an expansive grass-roots campaign, yielding a landslide victory for the Illinois senator in the S.C. primary.
"Two years ago when (Gunn) was running, I don't think he'd ever run a campaign before and he was running against an incumbent," Werner said. "Now, he knows how to run a campaign. People know him from the Obama campaign. His name ID is good out there."
