Is it special treatment for a state official, or a political attack against him in an election year? Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer says he got no preferential treatment when the state DOT bought one-tenth of an acre from him, even though it paid him twice its first offer.

The land is on Highway 60 in Irmo, and the DOT needed it as part of widening the road, also known as Lake Murray Blvd., to four lanes. Bauer says he bought the land ten years ago, before he ever ran for public office.

The state first offered him $62,000 for the land, which he says is less than he paid for it plus the property taxes he's paid on it over the years. The state eventually paid him $130,000, which he says is far less than it's worth.

"I didn't want to sell the property," he told News Channel 7. "To show you how much power I had in their process, I asked them to move the expansion of the road on the other side of the street. Didn't want to lose that property. I bought it ten years ago to, hopefully, someday be able to build a nice, newer structure right there in a heavily-commercialized area."

He says he realizes it might look like he got special treatment, since he was paid twice the state's first offer. But he argues that there are still 30 other property owners on the same stretch of road who have refused to sell to the DOT for the price it's offering, and they plan to fight in court.

He says he deciding against doing that so the sale would not become a news story. The actual sale took place last year, and he says the only reason it's coming up now is because it's an election year and he has opposition.

Fellow Republican Mike Campbell, son of former governor Carroll Campbell, is challenging Bauer in the Republican primary. Democrat Michael Hollings, son of former Sen. Fritz Hollings, is running as a Democrat.