More splits in the South Carolina Republican party
Letts urged to enter race for House seat
By JOY L. WOODSON
jwoodson@thestate.com
MICHAEL LETTS
A longtime Northeast Richland resident is poised to be a third choice in a contested Midlands House race this November.
Michael Letts, an advocate for protective vests for police officers and increased transportation funding, could challenge Republican incumbent Rep. Bill Cotty and Democratic challenger Anton Gunn for the District 79 seat, which is in southwest Kershaw County and Northeast Richland.
Although Letts said he is not petitioning, “a relatively large group of neighbors and friends” have asked him to run.
Supporters, who did not want to comment, are busy gathering signatures to place Letts on the ballot before the Monday deadline. They need 5 percent of the 16,426 registered voters in the district — or 821 signatures — to be successful.
“I’m overwhelmed and humbled,” Letts said. “I can’t believe that many people would encourage me to do something.”
It was not known Friday how many signatures have been collected.
Letts would be running as a conservative, independent Republican candidate, and said he respects Cotty but that the two men have obvious differences:
• Letts favored Cotty’s push for property tax relief, but said the tax burden was shifted — not eliminated. He also advocates more state spending audits.
• Cotty, voted against the Right to Life Act of South Carolina, but Letts says he is a staunch pro-life supporter.
• Cotty, a former Richland 2 board member, does not favor school choice vouchers, but Letts says he would as long as they don’t drain funds from public schools.
Attempts to reach Gunn and Cotty were unsuccessful.
Gunn, executive director of South Carolina Fair Share, beat out Todd Wood of Lugoff during the June 13 Democratic primary.
His recent work has centered on being an advocate for a higher cigarette tax to help pay for health insurance and to ensure that health care is available to all.
In the primary, Cotty faced Sheri Few, who founded South Carolina Parents Involved in Education, and campaigned for school choice.
As a member of the transportation committee at the Central Midlands Council of Governments, Letts said that he would aim to make it a top priority. Fixing overburdened Hard Scrabble Road has been one of his causes.
“If the Legislature spent half the effort on dealing with our infrastructure issues as they do on education then we’d solve the problem,” he said. “I’m not saying that we need to do something less for education ... we just need to begin to also focus on other key issues to move our state forward —infrastructure being one.”
By JOY L. WOODSON
jwoodson@thestate.com
MICHAEL LETTS
A longtime Northeast Richland resident is poised to be a third choice in a contested Midlands House race this November.
Michael Letts, an advocate for protective vests for police officers and increased transportation funding, could challenge Republican incumbent Rep. Bill Cotty and Democratic challenger Anton Gunn for the District 79 seat, which is in southwest Kershaw County and Northeast Richland.
Although Letts said he is not petitioning, “a relatively large group of neighbors and friends” have asked him to run.
Supporters, who did not want to comment, are busy gathering signatures to place Letts on the ballot before the Monday deadline. They need 5 percent of the 16,426 registered voters in the district — or 821 signatures — to be successful.
“I’m overwhelmed and humbled,” Letts said. “I can’t believe that many people would encourage me to do something.”
It was not known Friday how many signatures have been collected.
Letts would be running as a conservative, independent Republican candidate, and said he respects Cotty but that the two men have obvious differences:
• Letts favored Cotty’s push for property tax relief, but said the tax burden was shifted — not eliminated. He also advocates more state spending audits.
• Cotty, voted against the Right to Life Act of South Carolina, but Letts says he is a staunch pro-life supporter.
• Cotty, a former Richland 2 board member, does not favor school choice vouchers, but Letts says he would as long as they don’t drain funds from public schools.
Attempts to reach Gunn and Cotty were unsuccessful.
Gunn, executive director of South Carolina Fair Share, beat out Todd Wood of Lugoff during the June 13 Democratic primary.
His recent work has centered on being an advocate for a higher cigarette tax to help pay for health insurance and to ensure that health care is available to all.
In the primary, Cotty faced Sheri Few, who founded South Carolina Parents Involved in Education, and campaigned for school choice.
As a member of the transportation committee at the Central Midlands Council of Governments, Letts said that he would aim to make it a top priority. Fixing overburdened Hard Scrabble Road has been one of his causes.
“If the Legislature spent half the effort on dealing with our infrastructure issues as they do on education then we’d solve the problem,” he said. “I’m not saying that we need to do something less for education ... we just need to begin to also focus on other key issues to move our state forward —infrastructure being one.”
posted by SCGOP at 2:50 PM
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