Two-term incumbent Republican Larry Grooms, 40, of Bonneau, president of a corporation made up of local businesses, is being challenged by Democrat Stewart Powell III, 35, a St. Stephen supermarket co-owner.

Powell was spurred to run after being shot trying to stop a robbery at the supermarket in 1999, then learning the shooter had little or no education, he said.

"I am for reforming public education," he said. "It touches 90 percent of the students coming up, but there's been little or no sweeping legislation in the past few years. I think that's wrong."

Powell favors giving teachers more control in the classroom, using state lottery money for kindergarten through 12th grade and bringing state finance and budget professionals to meet with educators to come up with better ways to run schools. He opposes tax credits or vouchers for private schools.

"How are those kids in these poor rural areas going to afford private schools? The vouchers can't cover it," he said. "Being a businessman, I hate taxes. I don't think we ought to raise taxes. We should make education a priority first before all these other programs."

Powell also wants to bring more jobs to a rural district hard-hit by job losses and allow prescription drugs for seniors to be bought from Canada to reduce the cost.

Grooms said he wants "to finish what I began," refining education reforms based on the state Education Accountability and federal No Child Left Behind acts. "Testing shows where we're not doing a good job. We need to make sure we get the resources into schools with problems to fix those problems."

He wants to bring more equity into education funding, partly by reducing the income tax and encouraging small business growth. Poorer, rural schools lag behind, and there's a correlation between student performance and a community's median income, he said. Improving the economy in those areas will improve schools.

Grooms also wants to change Senate rules that have stymied the Legislature. "They may have worked well in the 19th century. They haven't worked well in the past few years," he said.

He also feels he can play a significant role balancing landowners' rights with environmental resource conservation.

"I want to try to bring both sides to the middle to get something passed we can all live with," he said.

The district stretches in an arc around Lake Moultrie from Mount Pleasant to Jamestown to St. Stephen, and then south to Walterboro in Colleton County.

S.C. SENATE DISTRICT 37

REPUBLICAN LARRY GROOMS

AGE: 40

RESIDENCE: Bonneau

FAMILY: Wife, Carol Elaine Anderson Grooms; 3 children

EDUCATION: Clemson University, B.S. in management, 1988

PHONE/E-MAIL: (843) 825-4751; LKG@scsenate.org

OCCUPATION: GTI president/CEO

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: S.C. Senate, 1997-2004

DEMOCRAT STEWART POWELL III

AGE: 35

RESIDENCE: St. Stephen

FAMILY: Divorced

EDUCATION: Attended Charleston Southern University, 1986-1991

PHONE/ E-MAIL: (843) 567-6868; powellforsenate@TDS.net

OCCUPATION: Powell Foodland co-owner

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: None

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