GREER — Hard by the Greenville-Spartanburg county line, Greer sits smack dab in the hotbed of the Republican Upstate. Surrounded by growing shopping complexes and subdivisions, its residents regularly pad the GOP’s margins in statewide elections.

That may happen again this fall, but voters in this conservative center appear clearly ambivalent about the June 13 Republican primary election.

Though many residents are passionately against illegal immigrants living in this country, they are lukewarm at best about Republican Gov. Mark Sanford. And they know little, if anything, about his GOP primary rival, Prosperity physician Oscar Lovelace.

While that could translate to bad news at the polls for Sanford, Lovelace has little in his campaign coffers to break any message through.

“I’m usually very active politically, but not this time,” says Christine DeGraaf, a 31-year-old pet store owner who cut her teeth on politics in Vermont. “My business consumes most of my time right now.”

But she will vote.

“By the time the election rolls around, I will have educated myself on the candidates and I will vote,” she vows.

DeGraaf, who calls herself a conservative, is not alone. Many voters here have yet to tune in to the primary election. For now, politics doesn’t interest them.

They’re not in the mood. They’re preoccupied with family and school — and bothered by the war in Iraq.

“Bush has gotten us into a lot of trouble over there; I don’t know how we’re going to get out,” says Diane Spivey, a 61-year-old clerk at a children’s boutique.

“This could be President Bush’s downfall.”

Despite her concerns, she remains a strong supporter of the president.

NO CARTWHEELS

This still is Bush Country, although cracks are beginning to show in what once was solid support for the president in South Carolina.

Chuck Gladfelter, a 68-year-old transplant from Detroit, Mich., and owner of a picture frame shop here, voted for Bush but is not sure he would do it again.

“I don’t like the way he handles things,” he says. “I don’t like his management style. I think he’s his own worst enemy.”

The mention of Sanford, who is wrapping up his first term as governor and going for a second, doesn’t excite voters, either. Most yawn or give a blank stare when asked to identify Sanford’s accomplishments.

But that won’t keep them from voting for him — if they turn out. Many say they will hold their noses and cast a ballot for Sanford, anyway, because there’s no one else.

Ever hear of Oscar Lovelace?

“I’ve heard of Linda Lovelace,” quipped Barney Sullivan, a 64-year-old liquor store owner, recalling the 1970s porn star.

Sullivan was among a handful of strong Sanford supporters among the two dozen voters interviewed for this story. Almost all of those interviewed identified themselves as Republicans or conservatives. Democrats were difficult to find.

“He has done a good job,” Sullivan says of the governor.

Sullivan saved his ire for the Legislature, blaming the Republican-controlled body for the state’s ills.

“They couldn’t draw a straight line with a ruler,” he says. “If I were the governor, I’d put them on sabbatical. They don’t know what they’re doing.”

Most of the voters interviewed knew Oscar Lovelace’s name. They have seen his signs along the highways and byways, but they know nothing about the man.

“I’ve heard his name, but that’s about it,” says Nancy Dykes, a 55-year-old store manager. “I know nothing about the man.”

“Never heard of him,” says Reese Davis, 53-year-old owner of a scuba diving store.

Most voters thought Sanford would win the primary because he has the most money — more than $5 million on hand on March 31. In contrast, Lovelace had $87,166 on hand.

Beyond that advantage, voters — even those who supported Sanford in 2002 — tended to give him low marks for his performance after three years.

“He’s not an inspiring type of guy,” says Francis Marion University political scientist Neal Thigpen, a Republican activist. “His ace in the hole is all that money.”

Currently, 51 percent of state voters view Sanford’s job performance positively while 43 percent have a negative view, according to a Survey USA poll taken of 600 adults April 7-9. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percent.

“I’m not too impressed with him,” says Catherine Bettencourt, a 49-year-old sales associate.

Asked what sticks out in her mind most about the governor, she replies, “The pigs. The day he brought them to the Legislature. That was stupid. But he has made a lot of mistakes. He has gotten a lot of people mad at him.”

Issues that concern Upstate voters are no different than elsewhere in South Carolina.

Aside from the war, their chief concern is immigration and whether amnesty should be granted to the estimated 11 million people residing illegally in this country.

“No amnesty,” shouts Robert Johnson, a retired technical writer.

His wife, Pat, a retired executive assistant, is just as zealous about whether we should secure our borders.

“Absolutely,” she says.

Even if it might mean building a barrier like the Great Wall of China to close our Southern border?

“That’s about what it’s going to take,” she says.