Debate starts over new coroner

AIKEN - The late Sue Townsend's handpicked choice to fill her unexpired term, Aiken County Chief Deputy Coroner Tim Carlton, said Thursday he will run for the Republican nomination for her post, but a prominent local Republican says Gov. Mark Sanford should not appoint him in the interim.

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Aiken County Republican Party Chairman David Nix said the governor should appoint a "caretaker" who won't be a candidate in the June primary. He cited the sharp divisions caused in the Republican Party when Mr. Sanford appointed former Aiken County Sheriff Howard Sellers' chief deputy, Jody Rowland, to fill his unexpired term, only for him to be unseated by current Sheriff Mike Hunt.

"You need someone to manage the office, handle the paperwork - they don't even need to know a lot about being coroner," Mr. Nix said.

"Then the governor doesn't create an internal political spat in Aiken County."

In a letter to Mr. Sanford last month, Mrs. Townsend recommended that Mr. Carlton be appointed to fill her unexpired term.

Mrs. Townsend, a Democrat who was appointed in 1982 and elected to five-straight terms, died in her sleep at her Sleepy Hollow Farm on Tuesday night after a four-year battle with cancer. She sent the letter when she announced her retirement in January.

Mr. Nix said there will be three or four Republican candidates in the race for Mrs. Townsend's post. Aiken County Democratic Party Chairman Charles Staples said no one has approached him about running for the position.

State Rep. Roland Smith, R-Langley, and state Sen. Tommy Moore, D-Clearwater, said Mr. Carlton should be appointed interim county coroner. However, Mr. Nix said state Sen. Greg Ryberg, who was on a business trip Thursday, supports appointing a caretaker.

--From the Friday, February 6, 2004 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle