Issue date: 2/13/10 Section: News and Opinion

On Tuesday, June 8th, 2010, the voters of the honorable state of South Carolina will head to the polls and choose the candidate that they believe will best represent their party in the general election and win the governor's race in November. There are four republicans vying for the spot on the ballot, while five democrats are attempting to prove they are worth their party's backing. Once the primary winners are chosen, a runoff will be held, if necessary, on June 22, then the general election will begin in preparation for the final vote on November 2nd. The state's current governor, Republican Mark Sanford, is limited by the state constitution to serving only two terms, and thus cannot run for reelection. This will be the first time that South Carolina will be holding an open primary (incumbent is not running and thus both parties must hold primaries) since 1994, following Carroll Campbell's second term.

Sanford leaves amidst a dark cloud hanging over the Statehouse in Columbia. As noted in another article featured in the Tiger Town Observer, South Carolina has recently been in the news with its politicians, essentially, making a fool of themselves. In June 2009, Sanford admitted to being engaged in an extramarital affair with an Argentine woman. In September of the same year, U.S. Congressman Joe Wilson, who represents an area that extends northward from Hilton Head Island to Columbia, shouted his infamous line "you lie!" at President Obama's joint session of Congress. Just this past month in January 2010, South Carolina Lieutenant Governor and republican primary candidate André Bauer was caught comparing the poor to stray animals.

It is a common consensus that the state of South Carolina is ready for a new governor. But who? From which party? This is the purpose of the primary and general elections to discover. With the recent election of Scott Brown to the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts, it may seem that the American people are tired of President Obama's agenda, and want to head toward a more conservative approach to the big issues of today: the economy and national security. On the other hand, South Carolinians have had a republican governor for almost a decade now, and in the eyes of some there has been very little improvement in the state's economic status, educational rankings, or natural resource production. They may be ready for "change".

So who are these people that are pursuing the right to live in the governor's mansion? That is what the TTO will be taking a look at over the next several months leading up to the primary. Our hope is that, with these brief profiles of each candidate and what they stand for, you will be encouraged to perform more research into their stances about the issues facing our state, then make an educated decision. Most importantly, we hope that you participate in this exercise in state politics, as well as in local races. One cannot complain about elected officials if they did not bother helping choose who was elected.

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