The Times and Democrat - SUNDAY'S EDITORIAL

Sellers brings youthful energy to Legislature

~ the issue ~District 90’s new representatives

~ Our opinion ~

Sellers won surprising victory, now looks to Columbia

As the nation watches Democrats exercise new-found power in Washington, even Republican-dominated South Carolina is getting in on the act. Congressmen Jim Clyburn and John Spratt are assuming new positions of power and influence.

Back home in the state capital, the Republican majority in the Legislature remained essentially unchanged. Both the Senate and the House have Republican majorities, and the Governor’s Mansion is controlled also by a Republican.

Not much changed either in the Democrat-dominated area that is much of The T&D Region. We maintained our power base of leading Democrats, many of whom exercise considerable sway as the opposition in Columbia.

A notable change did occur in House District 90. In fact it is a dramatic switch, not by party but by person.

The House’s longest-serving member, Rep. Tom Rhoad of Bamberg, was ousted by a man who will become the General Assembly’s youngest member, Bakari Sellers. Both are Democrats, so the contest didn’t get headlines in November. The Sellers victory was big news in June’s primary.

But the 22-year-old lawmaker-elect is pledging to make news come January when he debuts in the House chamber.

Already he’s echoing the national Democratic message of change.

“It was a referendum on change,” said Sellers, who will be sworn into office on Dec. 5. “The people were ready for a new voice, a new energy.”

And it was with new energy that Sellers went about winning. During his campaign, the University of South Carolina law student took to the streets, going door-to-door, asking residents about what issues were important to them. Couple that with solid political organization and the recipe for upset was ready.

Not to be forgotten, however, is Rhoad’s service. The very things Sellers said are needed for the district have been the things Rhoad has worked to deliver for a quarter century. He’s been involved in nearly everything significant in Bamberg County over that time – and has served a district that saw changes in lines that took him from Allendale County initially into Barnwell and Colleton, and finally into Orangeburg and Barnwell. He is owed a “thank you” by the people of our region.

As much as we’re certain Sellers would agree, he is ready to push forward. He says people talked about roads, sewers and their children’s education. He’ll now have to work hard in Columbia to be certain the district is not forgotten. As lawmakers from our region know, the Republican bastions of Greenville-Spartanburg, Lexington and Beaufort counties can be powerful forces in getting the bacon from Columbia.

For certain, Sellers has a legacy of success upon which to build. Not only is he the son of civil rights champions Dr. Cleveland and Gwendolyn Sellers, he has experience working with Clyburn, the elected leader who is becoming the highest-ranking African-American in Congress.

His knowledge and skills should serve Sellers and the region well. And it certainly should be interesting watching him work as a lawmaker with the same energy he did as a candidate.

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