GOP Congressional Candidates on Display

A handful of GOP candidates who plan to vie for the state's new 7th District congressional seat — representing portions of the Grand Strand and Pee Dee regions of the state — showed off their Republican bonafides on Sunday night.

At a candidates forum hosted by the SCGOP at Ripley's Aquarium in Myrtle Beach, only Horry County businessman Dick Withington seemed to buck the conservative field, saying that he was adamantly opposed to drilling for oil and natural gas off the state's coast. And he pooh-poohed the notion that Iran, and it's supposed push to develop nuclear weapons, is enough of a real threat to the United States to warrant intervention there. 

"I think the threat from Iran is grossly overblown," he said in response to a question from S.C. Congressman Joe Wilson. "I think we are so strong. We are a hundred times more powerful than Iran."

The other four candidates took opposite views on those two issues. The consensus was that drilling would be a boost to the economy while strengthening national security. And all indicated that no military option should be left off the table in regards to Iran.

"Offshore drilling is a no-brainer," said Myrtle Beach City Council member and candidate Randal Wallace. As for Iran, he said, "it's easily the biggest problem in the world." He even suggested the United States, perhaps through its intelligence agencies, should seek to embolden the Iranian people to overthrow their government.

Joining Wallace and Withington were fellow candidates, Georgetown County businessman, Jim Mader, Horry County Council chairman Tom Rice, local businesswoman Mandy Wilkes, and Florence attorney Jay Jordan.

Absent from the forum was presumptive frontrunner, former Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, who wanted a more traditional debate format, and fellow candidate Renee Culler

Bauer and Culler also were upset at the requirement that candidates buy their way into the event, said The Florence Morning News. "Candidate fees start at $300, but that pays for a candidate booth at an event prior to the forum, and, say party officials, it will also go towards a candidates’ congressional filing fee," the report said.

The GOP field has decreased by two in recent weeks. Meanwhile, Deborah B. Harwell also has dropped out to care for her ailing husband, former S.C. Chief Justice David Harwell.

Republican Colleen Payne of Columbia called the whole event Sunday night a sham and a travesty to the party.

"You don't pay to get into a debate. That's trash," she said. She also questioned the legitimacy of the whole affair, since the candidates don't become official until March 1 when their names are placed on the ballot.

"This is just an exercise in futility at this point," she said. "It's a waste of taxpayers time…. It's actually a deceitful situation … these are not official candidates yet." 

At the forum, which coincided with the state Tea Party Convention and nationally televised GOP presidential debate to be held Monday night, the candidates were asked the same series of questions by a panel consisting of Congressman Wilson, along with fellow state GOP congressmen Mick Mulvaney, Tim Scott, and Jeff Duncan.

Aside from Withington, the rest of the field took basically the same stands, which rested on strict fiscal conservatism and a strong national defense. 

In addition to the Iran and drilling questions, the candidates also were asked whether they believed their philosophies meshed with the fiscal conservative GOP delegation on the stage, and whether they would trade their tie-breaking vote for a pork project back home and campaign cash if asked by Republican leadership. None said they would.

"I am a no-compromise conservative," said Wilkes in response to that last question. Her counterpart Jordan said it was that type of maneuvering "that got this country into this mess we're in."

"First, I would just have to apologize and say, 'sorry, but you're going to lose this vote,'" Jordan said.

The four congressmen onstage, along with Rep. Trey Gowdy who was absent, made a name for themselves last year when they bucked Republican leadership, voting no on compromise legislation to increase the nation's debt ceiling, a measure that passed.

When the new representative is elected in November, he or she will be representing a new district that actually has a long history. The district was first eliminated in 1853 as a result of the 1850 Census. After the 1880 Census, it was again reconstituted for 50 years before being eliminated in 1933 as a result of the 1930 Census.

It was last represented by Hampton P. Fulmer, who was redistricted into the 2nd District. The re-emergence of the district is again due to the Census, in which the state's population grew enough to warrant resurrecting it.