FLORENCE - The 2006 campaign for governor in South Carolina will get under way during the state Democratic Convention, April 21-23, and a familiar name in the Pee Dee is being floated as a possible candidate.

Rumors have circulated for months that Florence Mayor Frank Willis was considering a run against Gov. Mark Sanford, but Willis would neither confirm nor deny it in public.

On Monday he confirmed that he is seriously considering a run at the governor’s office, and he will make a decision by early May.

“I haven’t made up my mind yet,” Willis said. “But I am seriously considering running in 2006.”

Willis said he would definitely not be making any announcements at the convention next week, but it’s likely that someone will take advantage of the media attention generated by the convention to make his intentions known.

Other Democrats said to be considering a run at Sanford’s job are Sen. Brad Hutto of Orangeburg and Sen. Tommy Moore of Clearwater.

Whoever ends up with the Democratic Party’s nomination will have a tough battle, Francis Marion University political science professor Dr. Neal Thigpen said.

“I don’t think any of these guys can beat Sanford as it stands now,” Thigpen said. “Sanford would have to have an opponent in the primary. You’ve got to rough him up in the primary.”

Sanford has been on a rocky road with his GOP-controlled General Assembly during most his first term - something many voters seem to like, Thigpen said.

Another problem Willis, Hutto and Moore will face is name recognition. Outside of their own geographic areas, none of the three is very well known.

Of course, there is a year and a half to change that, Thigpen said, and that will take a lot of money.

“It will take a minimum of $7 million to get run,” he said. “They all have the getting known problem, so most of that money will be spent on getting their name known.”

That’s a problem Sanford doesn’t have. He also has some campaign money in the bank.

“He’s got a big head start,” Thigpen said. “It’s going to cost a lot for anyone to run against Sanford, because he’s sitting on $3 million now.”

Still, Sanford does have some weak points, and those could be taken advantage of. Having alienated many in his own party, there have been rumors that many Republicans would throw their support to someone running against Sanford.

“A lot of Republican legislators would not stand in the way of their constituents voting against Sanford,” Thigpen said. “There’s a built-in bloc of voters against Sanford.”

Though no one has officially announced that he will run for the nomination to face Sanford in November 2006, S.C. Democratic Party Chairman Joe Erwin said he thinks that will change during next week’s state convention.

“I believe there will be some major announcements at the convention,” Erwin said. He would not elaborate.

Erwin himself was being mentioned several months ago as a possible candidate for governor, but he squelched the rumors by saying he would not run. State Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum has publicly said she would not seek the nomination, leaving the three candidates as the most viable names mentioned so far.

“Sanford has some vulnerabilities, but he is very popular with the general public,” Thigpen said. “The possibility of one of these guys beating him is there, but everything will have to fall into place just right.”

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