State Education Chief to Run for South Carolina Senate Seat

FOX News Online ^ | 8/13/03 | AP

[TheBigB]

COLUMBIA, S.C.

[TheBigB]

Will she be formidable?

[pogo101]

"One of the most important things that Congress has done in the last few years is regulate education"

I sure hope she gets the Dem nomination. Sounds like a typical NEA robot.

[The Clemson Tiger]

Probably the only candidate the Dems could run here in SC and still have a prayer...will probably still lose unless the 'Pubs nominate a real idiot.

[JohnnyZ]

Bad news for the GOP. If they nationalize the election they'll be ok, but if the election ends up being about the GOP nominee -- esp. if it's Condon -- then Inez will mouth "it's for the children" all the way to victory.

[Kuksool]

The SC Senate race is in a Presidential Election Year. Bush should win SC by the margin that he did in 2000, 57-41. Such a winning huge margin ought to provide big coat tails to the GOP nominee.

[wildandcrazyrussian]

South Carolina residents I have talked to indicate this Democratic candidate (Inez Tanenbaum) will in fact be the odds-on favorite to win the Senate seat, no matter who gets the Republican nomination. She has a very aggressive record as a campaigner and is to be thought of as the Hillary Clinton of South Carolina. The GOP can win it, but such an outcome will have nothing to do with how well Bush or anyone else does there. (I hope other SC natives have more appealing news to balance my friends' views.)

[Kuksool]

South Carolina Senate Update.

[Dan from Michigan]

From what I've heard, we'll likely have a tough fight here.

[Impy]

I think she's way overhyped being the only rat star in the state. She will lose but it might be close.

[Kuksool]

If Ernest Hollings retired in 1998, Inez probably could have won the Senate seat. 1998 was an up year for SC RATS. They made establishing a state lottery to fund government schools the main issue that year. However, the SC General Assembly approved the state lottery in 2001. Thus the RATS could no longer use that issue against the GOP. In 2004, the main campaign issues will be the economy and national security, not rasing taxes for government education.

In an open race, the core RAT vote is about 41%-44%. The core GOP vote is about 45%-47%. The tie breaking counties would be Charleston, Georgetown, and York. These counties provided critical support to Sen. Hollings and former Gov. Jim Hodges in 1998. Last year, the same 3 counties turned their backs on the RATS and voted for the Republicans. Thus, the Republicans made a near sweep of all the statewide electons in South Carolina.

[Kuksool]

The 2002 election returns for Governor and Senate are provided below.

Charleston County
__________________
Mark Sanford: 56
Jim Hodges: 44

Lindsey Graham: 53
Alex Sanders: 46

Georgetown County
__________________
Mark Sanford: 51
Jim Hodges: 49

Lindsey Graham: 51
Alex Sanders: 49

York County
___________________
Mark Sanford: 51
Jim Hodges: 49

Lindsey Graham: 59
Alex Sanders: 39

[Kuksool]

Ping.

[AuH2ORepublican]

Interesting numbers. How did Hodges do so well in York County? It has become so Republican of late that moderate RAT Congressman John Spratt barely carried the county in 2000 even though (i) it's his home county, (ii) he's represented it for well over a decade and (iii) he didn't face very strong opposition.

I think Tenenbaum is about the best candidate the RATs can put forward, but I don't see how she can beat Jim DeMint in a presidential election year with Bush atop the ballot. Bush will get over 60% of the vote in SC in 2004, and will carry any Republican (especially a good candidate such as DeMint) to victory.

[Kuksool]

{How did Hodges do so well in York County?}

Jim Hodges carried the SC-05 in 1998 and 2002. He grew up in that district.

I think Charlie Condon could beat Inez Tenenbaum as well. Condon's home base is Low Country. Also, he is quite popular with the religious conservatives in Up Country (DeMint's Congressional District). Although I personally prefer Condon, I am willing to support DeMint if he wins the primary. DeMint is no Terminator.