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Article published Feb 6, 2004
Reese welcomes GOP challenge
ROBERT W.
DALTON
Staff Writer
COLUMBIA -- With the Democratic
presidential primary now history, the focus is shifting to local politics.All of
the state House and Senate seats are up for grabs in November, and local
Republicans once again have Sen. Glenn Reese, D-Boiling Springs, in their
crosshairs.Spartanburg County Republican Party Chairman Rick Beltram said the
addition of the Mayo and Woodland Heights precincts to District 11 might give
his party its best chance yet to unseat Reese, who has served since 1991."That
makes the district a little more Republican," Beltram said.The first order of
business for the Republicans is to come up with a challenger. He said County
Councilman Steve Parker, who lost to Reese in 2000, is thinking about a
rematch."Steve lost by 3,400 votes in 2000, but that was before his experience
on County Council. He's a much stronger candidate now," Beltram said.Beltram
also said the door was open for any candidate who wants to step forward.Reese
said he doesn't care who the Republicans throwat him."I'm not being cocky, but I
feel like I have as much support from Republicans as I do Democrats," he said.
"I work very hard for the people in my district, and I think they know that. If
you do the job and take care of people, they'll take care of you."Before
November, however, candidates must get past the June 8 primary, and Sen. John
Hawkins, R-Spartanburg, faces a challenge from inside his party.Hawkins, an
attorney who served two terms in the House and is completing his first term in
the Senate, will take on Lee Bright, the owner of Hometown Transportation.
Bright has served one term on the District 6 Board of Education.Hawkins said
he's excited about the race."This seat belongs to the people. I welcome the
chance to seek the people's approval for another term in the Senate," Hawkins
said.Hawkins also fired the first shot in what could become an ugly battle. He
said he thinks Bright should apologize for his "unfair attack" on newly elected
Circuit Court Judge Roger Couch."Not only did he say he would support a
candidate from outside the (Senate) district, he went so far as to attack Judge
Couch's character," Hawkins said. "That was wrong and he should publicly
apologize."Bright said he has nothing to apologize for."What I said was that I
was frightened by what (Spartanburg County Democratic Party Chairman) Albert
Smith said, which was that Couch was more likely to throw out evidence and set
lighter bonds, and that law enforcement and prosecutors favored another
candidate (prosecutor Barry Barnette) and that I came down on the side of law
enforcement," Bright said."That's not a personal attack. I don't have a problem
with him personally."Bright said he also is looking forward to the race."It's
going to be a lot of hard work, but the reception so far has been great," Bright
said. "We're not going to get change in Columbia until we change some of the
people, and I'm going to go down with new and fresh ideas."Republican Sheriff
Bill Coffey also has opposition this year -- both inside and outside of the
party. He'll face Chuck Wright in the primary, with the winner meeting Democrat
Jack Owens in the general election.Smith, the county Democratic Party chairman,
said he's recruiting candidates to challenge the Republicans. The county
Democratic Party didn't produce a single challenger in 2002."It's a tall order
because of what has happened before," Smith said. "But we're trying to target
candidates and positions where we think we have a good chance to win. Once we
identify those, we'll fill in from there."The filing period opens at noon on
March 16 and closes at noon on March 30.Robert W. Dalton can be reached at
562-7223 or bob.dalton@shj.com.