State Sen. William H. O’Dell announced his re-election bid as a Republican, six months after switching from the Democratic party.
Vying for a fifth term representing the District 4 seat covering Anderson and parts of Greenwood and Abbeville counties, Sen. O’Dell said that his seniority and experience would benefit his constituents, especially at a time when the area’s other senior senator, Sen. Bob Waldrep, R-Anderson, was giving up his seat.
Sen. O’Dell said in a written statement he would focus on job creation, economic development and education during his campaign.
"I have spent a lifetime trying to make our rural communities in South Carolina a better place to live, work and play," he said.
The 65-year-old owner of O’Dell Corp. said he believed in balancing the state budget without tax increases on working families.
The senator said in a telephone interview that he continues to support an increase in the cigarette tax to provide a stable source of revenue for Medicaid.
He said he did not share Gov. Mark Sanford’s priority in cutting the state income tax. Sen. O’Dell is supporting a current bill that would replace the car tax and local property taxes with a 2-cent sales tax hike.
"With the sales tax you’re going to pick up 25 to 30 percent of it in out-of-state money," he said.
In touting his record of support for public education, the senator said he wanted to see a way to improve discipline in schools by limiting liability for teachers who may fear being sued.
Sen. O’Dell said his commitment to affordable health care for seniors was evident in his co-sponsorship of legislation that would cap medical malpractice claims to $300,000, which he said would help keep insurance costs down.
On the issue of job creation, the senator said he would work with federal representatives to ensure that trade deals with foreign countries were fair.
He said that he also wanted to see broader promotion of existing tax credits for small business owners and would support initiatives to boost the state’s heritage tourism industry, especially in the Upstate.
Nicholas Charalambous can be reached at (864) 260-1256 or by e-mail at charalambousnc@IndependentMail.com.
