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Article published May 25, 2004
GOP
rivals try to clear up concerns
Dudley Brown
Staff
Writer
GREER -- S.C. Senate District 12 candidates ended last week
with a debate and began this week with another one.Incumbent Sen. John Hawkins
and his challenger, Lee Bright, squared off at a GOP debate held at the J.
Harley Bonds Career Center. The Greer Chamber of Commerce hosted the debate.
About 60 people attended the event.The politicians mostly spoke of their
agreement with Gov. Mark Sanford's proposals, but also tried to clear up
misconceptions amongvoters. Each candidate blamed the other for fostering the
misconceptions.Phillip Shoopman, a member of the Greer Chamber of Commerce's
public affairs committee, moderated the debate.Early in the debate Shoopman
asked the candidates for their stances on restructuring state government.
Hawkins said he supported having some officials appointed, such as the secretary
of education, but disagreed with others, such as the adjutant general.Bright
said Hawkins, who is a major in the S.C. Army National Guard, held that opinion
because he might aspire to run for adjutant general. Hawkins shook his head and
someone in the audience shouted to Bright, "Put on a uniform!"Hawkins didn't get
a chance to respond until he was given another question a few minutes later.
After stating his stance on tort reform, he said he had no intentions of running
for adjutant general."That's a rather ridiculous proposition," Hawkins said.He
said he is not qualified for the office, but was honored Bright thought he
was.Both candidates said they supported eliminating property taxes, and Hawkins
said he was glad Bright joined his side on the issue.But Bright said he brought
up the issue of property taxes in their first debate and said he held his
position while he served on Spartanburg County School District 6's board.Both
support Sanford's tax plan, a citizen's right to own guns and a crackdown on
illegal immigration. Both candidates also believe that money should follow
students who choose to attend another school, whether public or private, to make
schools more competitive.The candidates also participated in a forum hosted by
the Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce last Friday.The Republican primary for
the Senate District 12 seat will be June 8. The winner will face Democrat
Leonardo Ortiz in the November election.Dudley Brown can be reached at 562-7426,
or dudley.brown@shj.com.