BLUFFTON -- State Rep. Bill Herbkersman thinks there's a good reason he doesn't have an opponent in his bid for a second term. He calls it "the accessibility factor."

"I get 50 to 100 e-mails a week," he said. But he answers "every e-mail and letter personally."

"I answer every phone call, whether I'm here or in Columbia," Herbkersman said.

"Here" is his office on the corner of Calhoun and Bridge streets in downtown Bluffton, where he said 15 or 20 visitors a day can drop by when an important issue comes up.

"I get a lot of help and a lot of input," he said. "Not a week goes by that someone doesn't say, 'If you need help in the office, let me know.' "

Herbkersman, a Republican, also writes a weekly column for a local newspaper and has his own Web site where he polls visitors on local and state issues.

All of this helps him keep in touch with what his constituents are thinking, he said. His seat, District 118, covers much of greater Bluffton, including Sun City Hilton Head, as well as Daufuskie Island and part of the north end of Hilton Head Island. It also crosses the Broad River to cover Parris Island and parts of Laurel Bay, Burton and Shell Point.

Herbkersman thinks he has done a good job for the people he represents in the past two years.

"It's kind of unprecedented, but I was made a whip in my first year," he said. "That has enabled me to be able to sit at the table where decisions are made prior to sessions."

Herbkersman said he had used his position to bring more money to Beaufort County and reduce its status as a "donor district," providing tax dollars for the rest of the state.

He said he pushed for the inclusion of $5 million for Hunting Island State Park and $400,000 for the Waddell Mariculture Center in the state budget. Both projects were approved. He also said he brought more gasoline tax money for road improvements to the county than went out.

He sponsored and passed a fender-bender law, requiring cars involved in minor accidents to move out of the travel lanes. And, he said, he brought the leadership of the House of Representatives to the Lowcountry to meet with local leaders on proposed tax reform.

In the future, Herbkersman said, his top priority is to bring more money to Beaufort County and work with local governments to make sure that money goes where it is needed.

He also intends to reintroduce a bill that would allow local governments to charge a fee on real estate transactions, although he had no prediction for when the bill might pass.

Hilton Head is the only local government in the state with such a fee -- a 0.25 percent tax on all real estate transfers. The town has used the money to preserve land for open space and recreation and to prevent or reduce development. Hilton Head's tax was grandfathered in when state law was changed to prohibit such fees from being charged by counties and municipalities.

An overhaul of the Medicaid system and changes to the tort system also are on his agenda.

Asked whether his work as a developer, specifically with the proposed Calhoun Street Promenade in downtown Bluffton, has lost him support, Herbkersman said it has done "just the opposite."

Some people don't agree with his proposal to extend Calhoun Street to Dr. Mellichamp Drive and build 85,200 square feet of shops and offices and 68 loft apartments there, he said, but those who say they support it outweigh those who say they oppose it by "10 to 1."

"People want places to open small businesses," he said. "Stay-at-home moms want part-time employment, and parents want their kids to have part-time jobs that they can bike to."