The state Public Service Commission candidate at the center of a controversy about candidates' education and family ties to legislators has decided to drop out of the race.

Dick Richardson of Fort Mill said he is withdrawing his name to concentrate on his lighting business and to support his lawmaker wife as she seeks a seat on the state Employment Security Commission.

For two years, a state House and Senate debate about education requirements and nepotism has delayed elections for the commission's seven seats. Commissioners are paid $77,834 a year to deal with complex utility and telecommunications regulation and rate issues.

Richardson, 70, is married to state Rep. Becky Richardson, a Fort Mill Republican and chairwoman of the House Ethics Committee. While he lacked a high school diploma when he first sought the PSC seat, Richardson said he has since earned a GED. He plans to enroll at the University of South Carolina this fall and take business courses.

Richardson said he dropped out of high school in the 11th grade to support his family after his father became unemployed.

His departure could help PSC restructuring legislation that deals with education requirements and nepotism, Senate Judiciary chairman Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, said Friday.

House members opposed the Senate's version of PSC overhaul legislation that called for candidates to have bachelor's degrees and experience tied to the commission's work.

Senators also said candidates couldn't be married to legislators, but the House wouldn't go along.

Richardson's withdrawal "may remove some of that intensity of disagreement," McConnell said.

One House member trying to work out a compromise on the legislation said Richardson's departure won't affect the debate.

"The position I have taken on the PSC had nothing to do with any individual whether it be Dick Richardson or anybody else," said Rep. Bill Sandifer, R-Pickens.

An improved screening process should eliminate candidates lacking expertise, Sandifer said.