Republican Gov. Mark Sanford has supported two Beaufort County school board candidates in the past year, moves that raise the eyebrows of some residents who question his involvement in local nonpartisan races.

While the current controversy stems from Sanford's support of Stu Rodman, who is running against Chuck Ford for southern Hilton Head Island's District 3 seat, it's not the first race in which the governor has supported a local school board candidate.

Last November, Sanford endorsed Richard Tritschler, one of three candidates vying for the Lady's Island school board seat in a special election. Tritschler, who won the election, says Sanford supported him because he was opposed to the school district building a $28.7 million north-area high school near land Sanford and his family own in the Dale area.

Bonnie Smith, a former school board member and a member of Citizens About Better Schools, a local group that finds and encourages candidates to run for school board seats, said an endorsement from Sanford, who grew up in Beaufort County, will prejudice voters. Smith, who is a member of the Republican party, said she wants both Rodman and Ford to have an equal chance to win the race.

"Loyal Republicans will do what they are told, listen to the governor and vote for Stu Rodman," she said.

Sanford's endorsement carries a lot of weight in Beaufort County, Smith said. "He's like God here. When he says jump, people say how high?"

Smith said she didn't know why Sanford was supporting anyone because Beaufort County school board races are nonpartisan. But, she said, his move is even more puzzling because both Rodman and Ford are Republicans.

Ford, who was a Republican school board member on a partisan suburban Philadelphia board in the late 1970s, said that having an opponent who has the governor's support makes things more difficult.

"The playing field isn't quite level," he said.

And, he said, he was surprised to find out that local Republicans were behind Rodman. Recently, he said, a sample ballot on the wall at the Republican campaign office on Hilton Head had Rodman's name highlighted as the candidate to choose for the school board seat.

But, Ford said, he'll just let things play out.

"I'm anxious to be on the school board," he said, "and I think I can make a difference, but what happens, happens."

Rodman, who has worked with Sanford on a commission to restructure state government, said the governor called him and encouraged him to run, but he didn't know specifically why the governor was supporting him.

"There was no conversation about any school board issue," he said.

Will Folks, spokesman for Sanford, said the governor supported Rodman because of the work he did to streamline state government. Sanford "had some good things he wanted to say about Stu Rodman," Folks said, "but he didn't want to say anything bad about another candidate."

Rodman has held positions in manufacturing and finance with several large companies and was a partner in a private investment firm that turned around troubled manufacturing companies.

For most of his career, Ford worked in the human resources departments of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.

Folks said Sanford encourages people with Rodman's business background to get more involved in the political process.

He also said he didn't know whether Sanford had supported any other school board candidates in the state who were running in nonpartisan races. He said that as a U.S. representative from 1995 to 2001, Sanford "supported a handful of candidates in city and county races."

Flo Rosse, who represents District 3 on the school board but is not running for re-election, said she thought Sanford was supporting candidates who are opposed to the high school north of the Whale Branch River in Dale. Rosse, the former chairwoman of the Beaufort County Democratic Party and a supporter of the high school, said Sanford and his family own land in Dale and don't want a school built near it.

Sanford and his family own more than 1,100 acres near the site the school district has selected for the high school on Keans Neck Road. Sanford's mother, Margaret Sanford, owns some of the land, some is in Sanford's name and some is owned jointly by the family.

Folks said Sanford objects to the school's proposed location not because it is near his family's land but because "it's not where the population of Beaufort County is growing."

Tritschler said Sanford supported him in the special election last year because "I am an outspoken critic of the siting of the (north-area) high school." He won the seat vacated by Dave Arnold, who left Beaufort County.

Sanford knows that "a school north of the Whale Branch River where there is no growth is improper," Tritschler said.

During his campaign, Tritschler said the governor made a prerecorded phone message that went out to Lady's Island residents. The message reminded people to vote and "mentioned my name as a strong candidate for the school board," Tritschler said.

Sanford's support came in the last 30 days of the campaign, he said.

Tritschler stressed that he was opposed to a school in Dale whether or not he had Sanford's support.

The governor did not make a financial contribution to his campaign, he said, but Sanford's mother, who lives in District 7, contributed $1,000.

Rodman last week said he was opposed to the high school because it is "overpriced, too large and in the wrong location." He also said Sanford didn't contribute any money to his campaign.

Ford said he thought the district should stop work on the high school until it completes the long-range planning process it launched last summer.

"We shouldn't spend $28.7 million until we have a strong plan," he said.

"Why not start now? ... Maybe the high school does belong up there, but we first need a solid plan," Ford said.