Hilton Head Island lawmaker keeps term limit promise

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. - A Lowcountry lawmaker who promised to serve only three terms will step aside despite a change of heart on term limits.

Rep. JoAnne Gilham announced Tuesday that she won't run again for her seat on Hilton Head Island, keeping a pledge the Republican made to Herb Wiedemann, a member of a national term limits advocacy group called U.S. Term Limits.

Gilham said her 1998 pledge was well-intended, but she had since realized that because power in the Statehouse is based on seniority, "term limits are counterproductive to the electorate, and I personally would not now support a candidate running for the House on a term limits platform."

Gilham said she asked Wiedemann to release her from the pledge but he responded with a letter saying "if you choose to repudiate the pledge that is between you, your constituents and your conscience."

Wiedemann said Gilham had used her term limit pledge to her advantage in earlier campaigns.

Some Republican leaders say Gilham should reconsider "In my mind she has fulfilled her pledge by merely offering," state Sen. Scott Richardson, R-Hilton Head Island, said in a statement.

The party was surprised by Gilham's decision and hasn't had time to recruit a replacement candidate, Beaufort County Republican Party Chairman Doug Robertson said.

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Information from: The Island Packet, http://www.islandpacket.com