Herlong joins House 24 GOP primary field

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"My record ... reflects my own conservative and business-oriented view on the role of government, as well as my view that public education is critically important," Herlong said in a press conference in front of Mauldin Elementary School.

The special election was necessitated by the June 2 resignation of House Speaker David Wilkins, who will be sworn in today as U.S. ambassador to Canada.

Herlong sought to position himself as the candidate in the Wilkins' mold.

His record as a trustee, including implementing a massive construction-renovation program and rising test scores, is "of particular importance for someone who would seek to follow David Wilkins (because) it reflects my ability to deliver real results," Herlong said.

Three other Republicans have filed or said they will run: Bruce Bannister, Tom Ervin and Warren Mowry. Like Herlong, they are attorneys.

Ervin said Monday that he had launched a campaign Web site, www.tomervin.us, to give voters an overview of his candidacy and campaign.

Democrat Michelle Shain, a Greenville City Council member, has declared her candidacy. The district last elected a Democrat in 1978, two years before Wilkins won the seat, but Greenville Democrats are gearing up to give their eventual nominee a fighting chance.

Andy Arnold, county Democratic chairman, said in the party's newsletter that it had launched a "Precinct Project," aimed at having activists in place at each precinct to operate as neighborhood headquarters.

The district includes a mixture of old Greenville and suburban precincts.

Wilkins spent nearly 25 years in the House, the last 11 sessions as speaker.

Filing began at noon last Friday and will end at noon on June 27. Runoffs, if necessary, will be on Aug. 30 and the special election will be Oct. 4.

Herlong said he was a Democrat until 1996 when he became disenchanted over then President Bill Clinton's lifestyle and the party's increasingly liberal views. At the time, some Democrats saw him as a potential congressional candidate. He ran briefly for the GOP's 2004 4th Congressional District nomination before dropping out.

He described himself as the field's best candidate because "I have something none of the others have, that I've actually held political office and have actually produced results...that are pretty exceptional."

Herlong said he supports Republican Gov. Mark Sanford's "logical" plan to restructure state government by centralizing more power in the executive branch, favors the concept of Sanford's "Put Parents in Charge" program to give them greater choice over their children's education, and limited, "stay-out-of-they-way" government.

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Dan Hoover covers politics and can be reached at 298-4883.