Andre Bauer will not run in 2010
Republican Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer said Wednesday that if he's renominated and re-elected this year, he'll walk away from politics and will not run for governor or any other office in 2010.
Bauer, 37, told the GreenvilleOnline that a second term as lieutenant governor would be his last because "at some time, I want to go back, make a good living, I'd like to meet somebody and start a family. This stuff wears on you; some people get a big drive out of it."
"I'm an average person, I didn't get a political science degree, I got a business degree, I didn't go to law school. I'm a small business owner and contrary to what a lot of people think ... I don't aspire to have any big dreams of holding big political office and carrying on some legacy."
Bauer is facing a strong primary challenge from Mike Campbell, a Greenville native, Columbia businessman and son of the late Gov. Carroll Campbell. Henry Jordan of Anderson is the third candidate in the June 13 primary field. Robert Barber, a Charleston businessman, is the unopposed Democratic nominee.
(For more on this race and all the big contests in 2006, visit News19's campaign page.)
The money involved is a turn-off, Bauer said.
In 2002, Republican Mark Sanford, the eventual winner, and Democratic Gov. Jim Hodges raised and spent more than $7 million each. Some analysts have said Sanford's re-election campaign costs may hit the $8 million to $9 million range.
"You're going to be looking at a David Wilkins, Bobby Harrell and Gresham Barrett race, and it's going to cost millions and millions of dollars. That just isn't my fight. I'd love to go out as the lieutenant governor who really changed the lifestyles of seniors in South Carolina."
The state's Office on Aging now is under the lieutenant governor although an executive director administers it.
Noting the thwarted aspirations of a string of lieutenant governors who have failed to win the governorship over the last three decades, Bauer said, "This is not the highway to the Governor's Mansion."
"If I'd wanted to run for governor, I'd have stayed in the Senate where I'd now be a committee chairman, my staff would be as big as the lieutenant governor's, (there would be) a much smaller district to work with and (the election) would be in the middle of my term."
But Bauer said any absence from politics might be temporary.
"I wouldn't say that sometime later on in life I wouldn't look at another office, but I don't think it would be governor. There are other areas than governor I'd rather serve," he said without elaboration.
Tony Santaella, Producer
Bauer, 37, told the GreenvilleOnline that a second term as lieutenant governor would be his last because "at some time, I want to go back, make a good living, I'd like to meet somebody and start a family. This stuff wears on you; some people get a big drive out of it."
"I'm an average person, I didn't get a political science degree, I got a business degree, I didn't go to law school. I'm a small business owner and contrary to what a lot of people think ... I don't aspire to have any big dreams of holding big political office and carrying on some legacy."
Bauer is facing a strong primary challenge from Mike Campbell, a Greenville native, Columbia businessman and son of the late Gov. Carroll Campbell. Henry Jordan of Anderson is the third candidate in the June 13 primary field. Robert Barber, a Charleston businessman, is the unopposed Democratic nominee.
(For more on this race and all the big contests in 2006, visit News19's campaign page.)
The money involved is a turn-off, Bauer said.
In 2002, Republican Mark Sanford, the eventual winner, and Democratic Gov. Jim Hodges raised and spent more than $7 million each. Some analysts have said Sanford's re-election campaign costs may hit the $8 million to $9 million range.
"You're going to be looking at a David Wilkins, Bobby Harrell and Gresham Barrett race, and it's going to cost millions and millions of dollars. That just isn't my fight. I'd love to go out as the lieutenant governor who really changed the lifestyles of seniors in South Carolina."
The state's Office on Aging now is under the lieutenant governor although an executive director administers it.
Noting the thwarted aspirations of a string of lieutenant governors who have failed to win the governorship over the last three decades, Bauer said, "This is not the highway to the Governor's Mansion."
"If I'd wanted to run for governor, I'd have stayed in the Senate where I'd now be a committee chairman, my staff would be as big as the lieutenant governor's, (there would be) a much smaller district to work with and (the election) would be in the middle of my term."
But Bauer said any absence from politics might be temporary.
"I wouldn't say that sometime later on in life I wouldn't look at another office, but I don't think it would be governor. There are other areas than governor I'd rather serve," he said without elaboration.
Tony Santaella, Producer
posted by SCGOP at 1:35 PM
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