Legislative hopefuls find cost daunting

Dr. Leonardo Ortiz of Inman was outspent 11-to-1 in his race against Spartanburg Republican Sen. John Hawkins. (Ken Osburn/Staff) e-mail this story

That was 1939.

Today his grandchildren can't afford to go to Columbia.

The vast amount of money required for a serious campaign, a rarely changing cast of incumbents and the personal cost of service mean a General Assembly seat isn't a reality for most people.

"Average South Carolinians are at a disadvantage in trying to break into the winner's circle unless they are able to attract major ... campaign contributors," said Bruce Ransom, a Clemson University political scientist.

That's a rare point of agreement for some Democrats and Republicans, who say the burdens make it hard to recruit from a broad base and harder still for everyday folks to compete.

Legislative winners tend to take in three to four times as much as, and sometimes far more than, their defeated opponents. Incumbency helps, often meaning a financial head start with unspent funds from the last campaign, along with running on the right party label in the right district.

Leonardo Ortiz of Inman, a consultant on Social Security and labor issues, was outspent 11-to-1, part of a situation he said "gets us a big-money Legislature, out of touch with average citizens."

"When you have all this money, the average person on the street is not being represented," Ortiz said.

Members disagree

But House Speaker David Wilkins, R-Greenville, disagreed.

"To a large extent, it's fairly representative of the state, (with) people from all walks of life," Wilkins said.

He agreed that the costs of running for public offices have escalated "and while that's unfortunate," it isn't limited to the Legislature. A major factor, Wilkins said, is candidates' increasing technological sophistication in getting their message out.

There are possible solutions.

Among them, shorter sessions, for which Wilkins-backed legislation is now pending, making the time away from job and family less of a burden; term limits, to create more turnover and opportunities for newcomers; higher salaries, to reduce the hardship that effectively bars many service-oriented individuals; and public financing of campaigns.

Ortiz ran against Spartanburg Republican Sen. John Hawkins. Where Ortiz raised $8,656 and spent even less, Hawkins raised $33,564 but dipped into unspent funds from previous campaigns to spend $67,300. Although part of Hawkins' expense came in turning back a primary challenge, it still helped build an organization and keep his name and message before voters.

Ideas, not money

Hawkins said it's the quality of ideas, not the quantity of cash, that determines elections.

"I don't run in the circles with a lot of rich people like some of my colleagues do. I'm not a member of any country club, and I guess I contact people and ask for (campaign) help on a case-by-case basis," he said. "I'm not out there rubbing elbows with the rich and famous."

Royce Justice, 69, a retired teacher, tried his hand at politics last year, challenging Republican Rep. Scott Talley in Spartanburg's heavily Republican House District 34.

He raised $4,948. Talley took in $51,934 and spent even more, dipping into funds accumulated in previous campaigns. Talley won going away.

"The bottom line is, that's what wins elections," Justice said.

In Greenville, Libertarian Russell Seegars took on long-time incumbent Sen. Verne Smith, R-Greer. Seegars reported raising $409. Smith took in $86,618, spent $65,354 and still had $162,697 in political mad money.

Smith said many legislative hopefuls are swamped by incumbents' money, but he added that the General Assembly is "pretty much" representative of the state as a whole.

He said with so few incumbents retiring, it's tough for newcomers to break in, "but I don't know any other way to do except with public financing, and I don't believe in that."

Wilkins, the Legislature's most powerful figure, was unopposed. He raised $199,694.

Many of today's incumbents, like Wilkins and Smith, even the 37-year-old Hawkins, launched their political careers as young men, just starting out in their businesses and professions.

Little variety

If Joe or Jill Sixpack sat in the gallery of either the state House or Senate, they would be unlikely to see themselves down below. That's because the South Carolina General Assembly — mostly — consists of lawyers, real estate developers, business owners and executives, professionals and a few retirees.

You won't find a textile worker, a BMW auto assembler, or a longshoreman from the Charleston docks in those stone and marble halls — unless they're part of a tour group.

Republican consultant Walt Whetsell of Columbia sees a new element running for, and winning, legislative seats. It's an older group, one that is more established, more politically savvy, and with enough affluence "to invest in their own efforts."

This is "not the up-and-coming 26-, 28-year-olds just starting out," he said.

It's mostly about money, some analysts say.

Not only are more candidates, generally incumbents or wealthy contenders for open seats, breaking the six-figure level, some Senate district foes are now combining to spend more than $1 million. That's an amount exceeding the most expensive congressional campaign in South Carolina in 2004.

The 170-member General Assembly only looks "a little bit" like South Carolina, said John Crangle, state director of Common Cause, an organization that promotes efforts to reduce the impact of money on politics. The Legislature's composition doesn't reflect the greater interests of the state as a whole because of members' affluence and standing, professionally and socially, he said.

'What we're missing'

"What we are missing, potentially, is a more a representative form of government," said state Democratic Party Chairman Joe Erwin.

"It's true in Washington. It's true in Columbia. Wouldn't it be better, say, if homemakers could more readily be strong candidates for public office (or) retired schoolteachers, retired people of any kind, or people from professions that don't make six-figure salaries?" he said.

"Yes, obviously, the fund-raising hurdle is a tough one to overcome when you're looking at taking on an incumbent. The built-in powers there, being able to fund-raise throughout the cycle, is a tough one to overcome if you're a challenger," said Luke Byars, executive director of the state GOP.

"You're either going to have to have resources of your own — personal wealth — or significant family backing that will allow you a jump on an incumbent's advantage," he said.

So, is it becoming a situation where only the rich can afford public service?

Byars didn't go that far, but said, "It's slowly becoming a situation where you're going to have to fund-raise all the time to be able to compete with an incumbent."

Money usually wins

An analysis of the 2003-04 campaign finance reports compiled by the state House and Senate Ethics committees by The Greenville News showed how money usually determines who sits in the Legislature.

Last year, the average winner in contested Senate elections raised $174,354. The average loser had $58,011.

For House winners in contested races, the average was $41,229, for losers, $12,322.

And it's getting costlier.

Ransom blames the costly shift to television advertising and technology, away from extensive — and far cheaper — personal contact with voters at meetings, malls and plant gates.

It's for a part-time job with poverty-level pay of $10,400, but returns can yield immeasurable power, influence and status.

To Erwin, a Greenville advertising executive, fashioning a Legislature that reflects the overall population "is one of the things in politics that has nothing to do with partisanship. We ought to continue to look at it in terms of public financing to take the money (factor) out of it."

Crangle said public financing, shorter sessions and higher legislative salaries would alleviate the problem.

A British-style approach would level the playing field through legally mandated short campaigns, public financing and equal access to the media, Ortiz said.

Other factors

There are other factors at work besides money. In a politically polarized state, one party or the other overwhelmingly dominates most districts.

Candidates running on the out-of-power party label start behind the eight ball. Because they're unlikely to win, they're almost assured there will be little money. No money usually translates into a message that mostly goes unheard.

Ortiz and Justice, among others, ran into both.

Byars said costs have escalated in Senate districts because campaigns have moved from direct mail and knocking on doors to television advertising.

"They've become what congressional campaigns used to be," he said, noting that through decades of reapportionment, some Senate districts now overlap multiple television markets, so to potentially reach all of the voters in a district, a candidate must pay the price.

"Four or five election cycles ago, Senate races were a lot like House races today, still strong on direct mail, phones, a lot of door-to-door" at least in compact, urban districts, Whetsell said.

It's only getting worse, Crangle said, citing a sharp rise in campaign spending that causes candidates to turn to special interests that then may expect favorable treatment.

For incumbents who are almost always a sure thing for re-election, there's plenty of political action committee money and that, combined with underfunded challengers, allows them to "roll money over from one campaign to the next," a growing intimidation factor for future opponents, Crangle said.

Incumbents rule

How overwhelming can an incumbent be?

Rep. Eldridge Emory, D-Lancaster, spent $53,424 to defeat Republican Stanley Smith who reported raising zero dollars.

Senate winners fund-raising for 2004 ranged from $9,510 for veteran Columbia Democrat Kay Patterson to Sen. Hugh Leatherman's $713,593.

In the House, it went from $4,700 to $138,772 for Reps. M.T. Hines, D-Florence, and Tracy Edge, R-Myrtle Beach, respectively.

Leatherman, R-Florence, chairman of the Finance Committee, raised $713,593 to fend off a challenge from Democrat Stephen Wukela, who had $138,654. Leatherman spent only $472,594, leaving him with $247,594 to jump-start his 2008 campaign.

Raising the most money isn't always a rock-solid guarantee of success. Rep. Joel Louie, D-Columbia, took in $493,696 in edging Republican Ken Wingate for a vacant Senate seat. Wingate generated $509,402, giving them a total of $1,003,098.

Dan Hoover covers politics and can be reached at 298-4883.