Date Published: March 23, 2006   

Coates drops out of House District 60 race

State representative cites family, business concerns

By LESLIE CANTU
Item Staff Writer
lesliec@theitem.com

State Rep. Marty Coates, R-Florence, announced this week he will not run for re-election after all.

Coates previously announced he would run for a fourth term in the House District 60 seat, but Sunday evening he telephoned fellow Republicans and let them know he would publicly announce he was dropping out of the race on Monday.

"It's time to go," Coates said Wednesday evening.

"I talked with my family and we just decided it's time for someone else to have a shot at it," he said.

Coates' announcement means none of the Sumter races have more than one candidate. That could change, at least for the House District 60 race, as a few people have indicated interest in filing for the seat now that he's dropped out, Coates said.

Coates would have faced Licia Stone in the Republican primary. He said the prospect of eight months of campaigning — figuring for opposition in both the primary and general election — was part of the reason he decided not to run.

"I determined it's in the best interest of my family and my business to make that decision," he said.

State Rep. Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, said he had no inkling Coates would drop out of the race.

"It was a surprise to everybody," he said.

Smith stressed the service Coates has provided and the money he's obtained for water and sewer projects in the rural areas of Sumter County.

"I don't know whether people realize how much work he had done," Smith said.

It's been an honor to serve Sumter, Coates said, and he's grateful to the residents of Sumter County who've elected him.

"I look forward to future opportunities to serve — just don't know what those opportunities are right now," he said.

Filing is currently open for local and state party primaries. Locally, elections will be held for House District 60, House District 67, held by Smith, Sumter County Council districts 2, 4 and 6, held by Artie Baker, Charles Edens and Louis Fleming, respectively, Third Circuit Solicitor, held by Kelly Jackson, and probate judge, held by Dale Atkinson.

To file as a Democrat, visit the office of Walter "Sonny" Newman at 27 W. Calhoun St., and to file as a Republican, contact Jimmy Byrd at (803) 468-0137.



Contact Staff Writer Leslie Cantu at lesliec@theitem.com or 803-774-1250.