Light barbs on cue at GOP debate
Spartanburg Herlad-Journal
By Jason Spencer
5/13/08
Like the sauce, the various candidates to take the stage Monday night at Ron’s Hog Pen BBQ were mostly different shades of red - and some of them had a little kick.
Sixteen state and local Republican candidates sat shoulder to shoulder on a tiny stage for nearly three hours in exchange for, at the most, about five minutes of scattered speaking time in a wide-ranging debate sponsored by the local GOP. Another arrived late, and opted to stand on the stage steps rather than shoehorn himself into the group.
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GOP gathering for debate after BBQ
21 candidates invited to discuss issues important to campaigns
Spartanburg Herald Journal
By Jason Spencer
5/11/08
A boatload of Republican state and local candidates will sit down to eat pork Monday night before they spend two hours talking about cutting it, among other things.
Twenty-one candidates have been invited to a forum hosted by the Spartanburg County Republican Party. The debate begins at 7 p.m. at Ron’s Family Restaurant. The event will feature questions by Herald-Journal Editorial Page Editor Mike Smith, Hometown News reporter Leon Russ and WORD radio personality Bob McLain.
The panel also can opt to ask questions submitted beforehand by the audience.
“What I’m trying to accomplish is to let the general public come and see all the candidates for all the local contested primary races at one time,” county GOP Chairman Rick Beltram said.
“It helps when you can compare a House race in one area with a House race in a nearby area. I think everybody realizes that nobody can go down to Columbia and say, ‘I’m going to hold down spending.’ You can’t do it by yourself. It has to be a group of people … forming a working majority to get things passed.”
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Immigration, the Budget, and Special Interest Groups
Recent Attacks by the Special Interest Groups
As you know, I have been under attack by angry special interest groups for the past few months. Please read this piece by the Spartanburg Herald Journal’s Bob Dalton and share it with your friends.
Another take on the S.C. Club for Growth
First, let me say that this isn’t a slap at Lee Bright or Roger Nutt, nor is it a pat on the back for Scott Talley or Keith Kelly. The four of them are big boys who can handle their own business.
It is, however, a fact check on the S.C. Club for Growth’s endorsements.
Last week Matt Moore, the Growth’s executive director, claimed in a letter that Talley and Kelly voted against “critical tort and workers’ compensation reform.” Fact: Talley voted in favor of the tort reform bill in 2006, and voted for workers’ compensation reform in both 2006 and 2007. Fact: Kelly voted for the worker’s comp bill in 2007. While it’s true that he didn’t vote for tort or worker’s comp reform in 2006, there’s a good reason - he didn’t enter the General Assembly until 2007.
When I called Moore to ask him how the Growth got it wrong, he said the group had worked hard to ensure the accuracy of its information. OK, mistakes happen, even though the Legislature has a Web site that tells you when someone was first elected and contains journals that document recorded votes.
Special Interest Attacks
Friends – It has been an honor serving you in the State House over the last two years. During that time I have worked to shake things up in Columbia by serving your family. In the process, I have angered a lot of special interests groups because I did not cave to their interests. They threatened me, ran negative commercials against me, and even promised to fund a candidate against me.
To be completely honest – I don’t care. I’m not in Columbia to make special interest groups happy. I’m there to make you happy and to push good conservative legislation that will protect our families. That will continue to be my top priority.
God Bless,
Keith
SHJ: Roger Nutt and Keith Kelly will face off again in District 35
Spartanburg Herald-Journal
By Jason Spencer
3/31/08
Republican Roger Nutt says that the people in the southern portion of Spartanburg County have had two years to see state Rep. Keith Kelly in action - and that’s why he’s running again for House District 35.
Nutt, 42, said he will campaign this year “almost word-for-word” as he did two years ago. He said he hasn’t even had to change his Web site.
“If District 35 is satisfied with my opponent’s record, then they can put him back in office. If not, they have a choice,” Nutt said. “It’s really a simple campaign.”
Nutt said the biggest difference this time around is that he has hired a consultant - Chad Connelly of the Sandlapper Group - so someone else can concentrate on things like campaign signs and he can spend more time actually campaigning.
Connelly is a board member of South Carolinians for Responsible Government, one of several conservative groups with similar agendas that have taken an interest in certain state legislative races. Kelly’s is one of them.
Special Interest Attack Groups
A couple months ago I wrote an op-ed detailing the special interests and attack groups that will be playing in the upcoming election. It looks like those groups are already attacking those of us who do not cave to their demands. Here is an interesting article that ran yesterday in the Spartanburg Herald Journal:
Groups seek to shape Legislature
Some say tactics used are ‘inherently unfair’
By Jason Spencer & Robert W. Dalton
Published: Sunday, March 23, 2008
In the year and a half that he’s been in the state House, Rep. Keith Kelly has missed one day of work.
It was a Thursday - April 26, 2007 to be exact - and Kelly, R-Woodruff, remembers it vividly. It was the day his wife had a biopsy to determine whether she had breast cancer.
Things went well and Kelly’s wife is fine. But somebody out there wants Kelly to pay for taking the day off to be by her side.
An anonymous group or individual recently paid for a poll in which voters in Kelly’s district were told that their representative was not attending sessions and was not voting. Such polls where an opinion survey is aimed at influencing someone’s perception of a candidate are known as push polls.
More thoughts on school consolidation
As you know, I have stood firmly against the school consolidation plan. This week a couple Spartanburg residents presented me with a petition of nearly 1,000 constituents who also oppose the plan. Here’s a video from the Spartanburg Herald Journal:
Special privileges
Lawmakers shouldn’t have exemptions from the rules the public must obey
South Carolina lawmakers shouldn’t give themselves special privileges the rest of the state’s population doesn’t enjoy. That includes the right to carry a concealed weapon anywhere they wish.
Citizens already resent the law that prohibits a lawmaker from being arrested on his way to the General Assembly. Newspapers routinely get calls from the public, complaining about lawmakers speeding on the interstate to Columbia, smug in the knowledge they won’t be stopped by police. Read more
School Consolidation
