The audience of about 400 people at Rock Hill's Baxter Hood Center stayed mostly quiet during earlier forum segments between county- and state-level candidates. When Spratt and Norman took the stage, the tenor quickly changed.

Norman, a first-term state legislator from Rock Hill, is challenging Spratt, a York Democrat serving his 12th term in South Carolina's 5th District. It didn't take long for the candidates to renew their disagreement on an issue that has come to dominate the race: allegations over Norman's development company and Hispanic laborers.

Norman upset over TV ad

Norman is upset over a Spratt television ad that says his company has been cited for violations by immigrant employees. Midway through Tuesday's forum, he demanded that Spratt produce documentation backing up the claim.

As Norman spoke, Spratt slowly pulled a sheet of paper from his suit pocket, put on his reading glasses and read from an incident report from the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.

The exchange drew cheers and boos from the audience, but did nothing to change the views of either candidate.

The citation issued by DHEC makes no mention of illegal immigrants. It states a pile of garbage and some metal bedsprings were being burned about 300 feet from a home in Rock Hill. But it doesn't identify the specific people responsible for the burning. Only the company is listed as being responsible.

A separate Environmental Quality Control incident report states an anonymous 911 caller reported a group of Hispanics was responsible for the burning.

"I pass the ultimate judgment on the ads my campaign runs," said Spratt, insisting the incident report is the basis for the ensuing citation. His campaign has since switched to a commercial about Social Security.

While immigration was the most personal issue, Spratt and Norman also differed sharply over global warming, a topic that has not been a major focus of the race.

"You've got a lot of pointy-headed bureaucrats who just want a grant," said Norman, who believes the threat is overstated. "It's not a priority when we've got security issues and financial issues."

Responded Spratt: "This country is big enough and smart enough to do more than one thing at the same time. The evidence is graphic; it's abundant all around us."

About the only cordial moment came when Spratt joined in applause to recognize the birth of Norman's fifth grandchild. His oldest daughter, Caroline, delivered Molly Anne Williams at 4:45 a.m. on Tuesday.