South Carolina Ping
Posted on 10/05/2005 1:34:47 PM PDT by Between the Lines
CLOVER SC -- Spurred by conservative convictions and a reality TV show victory, a political newcomer from Clover has decided to run for Congress.
Park Gillespie, 39, announced Friday he will run for the Republican nomination next year for the 5th Congressional District seat held by longtime Democratic incumbent John Spratt of York.
An unabashed pro-life, limited government conservative, Gillespie won $200,000 on the "American Candidate" television show on the Showtime cable network last year that took him on a whirlwind 10-week tour of the country.
Gillespie gave up 16 years of teaching to try the show and now a political run.
"Life is short," he told The Herald on Friday. "I can make a difference."
Gillespie said he will have to raise big money to be competitive, and his opposition will almost assuredly be formidable. State Rep. Ralph Norman, R-Rock Hill, is being courted by deep-pocketed state and national Republicans with connections as high as the White House and Capitol Hill to try to unseat Spratt.
Norman to announce Oct. 10
Norman said Friday he's made up his mind about running and plans to publicly announce his intentions at a press conference Oct. 10.
York County Democratic Party Chairman Jim Morton said he hadn't heard of Gillespie and does not know Norman's intentions, but that a Norman press conference probably means Norman will run.
Gillespie himself conceded that he probably will face a battle from Norman in a Republican primary in the spring.
"My money is that Ralph is going to run," Gillespie said.
Henry Eldridge, York County GOP chairman, said any announcement about a Norman candidacy will have to come from Norman himself.
"In general, you don't hold a press conference to let your supporters down in front of the press," said Scott Huffmon, a Winthrop University political science professor and expert on Southern politics. "It seems like there may be a good chance he's running."
Norman said he's met Gillespie, saying, "From what I know of him, I like Park. I think he will be in the race for the right reasons."
Gillespie said Spratt, first elected in 1982, is too much allied with liberal Democrats and is part of the Washington, D.C., establishment that is out of touch with the country. Gillespie said he is more in touch with a conservative voting base that is for lower taxes and against abortion and gun control.
Spratt, the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee and member of the Armed Services Committee, could not be reached for comment Friday. Spratt has said several times his record of experience and constituent service, including a leadership role in balancing the federal budget in the 1990s, speaks for itself.
Whomever the Republicans end up with, Spratt's experience will separate him from any Republican challenger, Morton said.
"Experience is the distinguishing factor for John Spratt, along with his character, integrity and service to this community and the district," he said.
Republican candidates focusing on Spratt's Democratic Party affiliations and his party's stance on key conservative issues such as abortion and gun control has come up before, Huffmon said, but the attacks haven't been enough to knock Spratt off.
The 5th District as a whole is not as conservative as York County, Huffmon said.
Married with four daughters, Gillespie acknowledged he is a virtual unknown in the 5th District that stretches to Marlboro and Dillon counties to the east and Sumter County to the south. But he has a year to knock on doors and get his message to the people. He vowed to keep his campaign civil, visualizing a frank discussion among candidates and the public.
"The great thing about this is the people decide," Gillespie said.
The growing conservatism in South Carolina is a natural magnet for conservative candidates, political observers say. Political unknown Albert Spencer of Gaffney received about 37 percent of the vote against Spratt last year while campaigning almost solely on the single issue of opposing abortion. Spencer raised and spent almost no money and rarely campaigned across the district.
Gillespie, who works in sales for a company that duplicates CDs and DVDs, formerly taught social studies in Mecklenburg and Gaston counties in North Carolina
Cool. You going to back him?
Of SC's six Congressional Districts, four are safe Republican; one (CD6) is a drawn-for-a-black-member safe Dem district; and one (CD5) is Spratt's. With each passing year, the Charlotte (NC) suburbs cast a larger percentage of the 5th's vote, a fact which should be ominous for Spratt. Still, the district includes some heavily black rural territory; overall, it is a bit over 30% black -- a tough number to overcome. President Bush carried the district twice, and even Bob Dole managed to squeeze out a 47-46 plurality in 1996 (district lines were only slightly different then).
If it were an open seat, the GOP would be favored. Against an entrenched incumbent, who follows the time-honored Southern Democrat strategy of talking conservative at home, but voting the Dem party line in DC, it will be tough.
Spratt is a carrer politician and does little for our district. I have, and will support anyone who runs against him!
Carl Gullick ran against him in 2000, but Spratt had the most $$$.
The growing conservatism in South Carolina is a natural magnet
Yep, sure is. Causes me to even consider moving to SC. I wish we had people like Gillespie in my state.
Recent SC District 5 races, with vote percentages:
2004: John Spratt (d) 63, Albert Spencer (R) 37
2002: no GOP candidate
2000: John Spratt (D) 59, Carl Gullick (R) 39, other 2
1998: John Spratt (D) 58, Mike Burkhold (R) 40, other 2
I must confess that I don't know the backgrounds, qualifications, and experience of Messrs. Spencer, Gullick, and Burkhold, but I don't get the impression they were "big names" in the GOP, or that they got a lot of funding from the national party. No insult intended toward them, of course; at least they gave it a shot.
Spratt's brother-in-law is Hugh McColl, the former CEO of Bank of America (previously NationsBank, previously NCNB). I'm sure a lot of national Dem money found its way to northernsouthcarolina because of that fact, as well as for other reasons.
Anybody but a Dem.
Charlotte has become a blue city surrounded by red suburbs. The conservatives are fleeing Charlotte and Mecklenbug county. While York county has already become safely conservative the only other SC county bordering Charlotte is Lancaster. Lancaster has seen a huge increase in development along the state line and a new "Sun City" type of retirement community is being built near Lancaster, both should help increase the number of conservatives.
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