"With Sen. Arthur Ravenel retiring, I will be the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee from the Lowcountry," said Branton, 64. "In the Senate, everything is done according to seniority. A new man going up there would never live long enough to get on the Senate Finance Committee."

That committee is key because it controls the money.

Branton, who owns a lumber company, is being challenged in Tuesday's primary by Dorchester County Council Chairman Randy Scott and by Ben Cole, former chief executive officer of the Charleston Regional Development Alliance.

The winner is a virtual lock to take office in January because there is no Democratic challenger. If none of the candidates gets a majority of the votes Tuesday, the top two will compete in a runoff election June 22.

More than 90 percent of the 54,000 registered voters in District 38 live in Dorchester County. The district also includes parts of Charleston County, such as Lincolnville and Ladson.

Scott, 58, has been on County Council since 1997. He is also vice chairman of the Berkeley Charleston Dorchester Council of Governments and vice chairman of the Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority.

In his seven years on council, Scott said, he has never missed a council or committee meeting and has never been late.

"I work this job. I didn't get elected just to sit down," said Scott, who owns an exterminating company. "I'm ready to take that experience and work ethic to Columbia and be available to my constituents."

If elected, Scott said he would call every mayor, council chairman, school board superintendent and school board chairman in the district at least once a month.

"I'm the type of person who will sit down and listen," he said. "I feel like we need a senator that's available to his constituents all the time, and not just at election time."

Scott also said he would push for new rules to limit filibustering, a technique senators often use to block the passage of bills.

Cole, a retired Santee Cooper vice president, cites his leadership of the Regional Development Alliance, which he said recruited more than 100 companies, creating more than 10,000 new direct jobs and $2.2 billion in new capital investment, after the Charleston Naval Base closed.

"We need to try to attract higher-paying manufacturing and technical jobs," Cole said.

That's an issue all the candidates agree on. But they differ when asked where to start.

Cole pointed out that bills that would have helped attract new industries died in the Senate because too many amendments were tacked on. That practice, called "bobtailing," needs to be stopped, he said.

"I think bills should stand on their own," he said.

Cole said lowering the income tax would stimulate economic growth. To compensate for the loss of revenue, the state should consider raising the gasoline tax to pay for new roads and the cigarette tax to pay for Medicaid, he said.

"I feel like we need to look at our entire tax revenue and make it fair and equitable," he said. "I'm not trying to say that this is easy. I'm trying to say that it needs to be done."

Branton said Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties need to work together more closely to create jobs and manage growth. He cited the Poplar Grove subdivision in Ravenel as an example of bad planning. The project calls for 3,500 houses in a rural area with no infrastructure, he said.

Branton also favors allowing taxpayers to check a box on their returns to support a fund for preschool education.

"We've got to start earlier with these kids," he said.

Scott said the best way to attract new businesses is to improve education and that starts with better salaries for teachers. Teacher salaries can be supplemented with an impact fee on new houses, he said. Most new houses in Dorchester County are bought by those moving into the county, and they don't pay local taxes for the first year. Assessing them a fee to help pay for the schools would only be fair, Scott said.

BEN COLE

AGE: 62

RESIDENCE: Summerville

FAMILY: Married 41 years; two daughters

EDUCATION: M.B.A. from Harvard Business School; B.S. from U.S. Naval Academy

PHONE NUMBER/E-MAIL ADDRESS: 873-6297, 860-0211 (cell); ben@bencoleforscsenate.com

OCCUPATION: Recently retired after four years as senior vice president of Santee Cooper; chief executive officer of the Charleston Regional Development Alliance for five years; insurance and financial services representative for 10 years; retired from the U.S. Navy after 20 years

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Dorchester County Council, 1991-95, including two years as chairman; alternate delegate to 1992 GOP National Convention; two years as executive committee member of S.C. GOP; alternate delegate to 2004 GOP National Convention

RANDY SCOTT

AGE: 58

RESIDENCE: Summerville

FAMILY: Married 38 years; two daughters

EDUCATION: Attended Trident Technical College; studied entomology at Clemson University

PHONE NUMBER: 871-2964

OCCUPATION: Owner of Scott's Exterminating Co., 1972-present

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Dorchester County Council, 1997-present, currently chairman; vice chairman of Berkeley Charleston Dorchester Council of Governments; vice chairman of Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority

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