Incumbents rarely face tough re-election bids, but one Charleston lawmaker's quest for another term in the S.C. House is anything but ordinary.

An alleged affair with another House member, a shooting incident at his parents' home and questions about whose district Rep. Wallace Scarborough is living in have combined to raise the profile of the Republican's November race.

Scarborough, 47, faces Democratic challenger Eugene Platt in House District 115 for the seat he has held since 2000. The district includes much of James Island and Folly Beach.

Non-political issues have been raised about Platt, too, but it is the incumbent drawing the most attention.

"There is no doubt that Wallace Scarborough's personal behavior has had a negative impact on his re-election hopes," said College of Charleston political scientist Bill Moore. "There are so many negatives here that one wonders who he hasn't alienated by his behavior."

Scarborough and his wife, Mary Ann, were married Nov. 17, 1984, and separated on July 10, 2005, according to divorce papers filed in May in 9th Circuit Family Court in Charleston.

Mary Ann Scarborough accused her husband of having an extramarital affair with another lawmaker -- "a woman named Catherine Ceips of Beaufort ... Both the plaintiff and Ms. Ceips are legislators in the South Carolina House of Representatives."

Ceips, 51, a Republican, is unopposed in her November re-election bid.

Ceips also was married when the Scarborough divorce papers were filed. Her husband, Richard, 54, suffered a stroke this spring and died July 27.

Scarborough and Ceips deny they are or were having an affair.

"There's no truth to the story," Ceips said. "It's a sad day to me when colleagues can't be close friends. I have many close friends in Columbia, and I count Wallace among them. Since that's pending litigation, I'd rather not comment further than that."

Scarborough faces other difficulties, too.

In July, he was arrested and charged with two counts of assault with intent to kill after he brandished and pointed a pistol at utility workers, according to The Associated Press, quoting a city of Charleston police report. Scarborough's pistol went off during the exchange with the workers from S.C. Electric & Gas Co.

The utility workers were checking equipment in the backyard of Scarborough's parents' home after a series of storms, a company spokesman said. The gun firing was an accident, Scarborough said, and the charges later were dropped.

Scarborough said his record is being expunged of the arrest.

Most recently, Scarborough has dealt with allegations that because of his divorce, he no longer lives in his district.

Platt, his Democratic opponent, filed a complaint with the Charleston County Board of Elections and Voter Registration that Scarborough was living at his parents' home in the West Ashley area of Charleston. That neighborhood is in another district.

Voter registration officials do not have the authority to determine if Scarborough is living in the district, said Marilyn Bowers, the board's executive director.

Platt was advised to file a complaint with the Charleston County Republican Party to challenge Scarborough's residency, she said. Republican leaders, though, are not about to disqualify their only candidate.

All of this has added up to an extended political headache for Scarborough.

Making a name

Scarborough is vice president of Atlantic Coast Life Insurance Co. He made a name for himself as a lawmaker this past session when he led efforts to oppose legislation that would limit local governments' ability to use zoning to control sprawl.

Although the bill passed, Scarborough stood firm against his own party's leaders -- who control the General Assembly and who favored the legislation.

A colorful dresser, Scarborough is perhaps best known as the lawmaker who never wears socks, even in the dead of winter.

The chairman of the Charleston County Democratic Party said Scarborough's personal life could freeze him out of returning to the Statehouse.

"He's running in the Republican Party, which for justifiable reasons or not, tries to claim moral superiority and be the 'party of family values,'" said Waring Howe Jr. "And this is a guy who ... you might say has questionable conduct as a husband and father.

"He wouldn't be the Republican Party's chosen poster boy for family values, and, particularly, among women voters in that House district because of how it's being categorized that he treated his wife."

The details of Scarborough's divorce proceedings are, indeed, salacious. They were first publicly aired in an article in the Charleston City Paper, an alternative weekly. However, that article left out many of the allegations, such as infidelity, that Scarborough has made against his wife in court filings.

As in many contested divorce cases, neither party in Scarborough v. Scarborough paints a rosy picture of the other.

In his counterclaim, Wallace Scarborough says his wife also had an extramarital affair. Mary Ann Scarborough, in another court filing, admits to having a relationship with another man but said it didn't start until months after she and Wallace Scarborough separated.

Wallace Scarborough denies any of this has hurt his campaign. That's especially true, he said, of what has been written in the Charleston City Paper.

"The Charleston City Paper is a rag," Scarborough said. "The Charleston City Paper has always been a rag. It's like the (supermarket tabloid) National Enquirer. The Charleston City Paper has been against me every single time I've run."

As for the residency issue, Scarborough said he is renting a house in his district, a point supported by Mark Hartley, a Republican Party state executive committeeman from Mount Pleasant.

Hartley said he's been to the house Scarborough is renting. He said none of the negative publicity, which he calls "stories and all the half stories and all the outright lies," is going to hurt Scarborough's election chances.

"Mr. Platt is a desperate Democrat," Hartley said. "That's a Republican district. Mr. Scarborough is in the process of divorcing his wife. There's no question about that. People get divorces."

Hartley said the SCE&G issue has been "blown out of proportion and everyone recognizes that, except the newspapers and the Democrat Party."

Not making an issue

Platt declined to comment on Scarborough's divorce "or any other non-political matter."

"At least hitherto, I have been thinking of his domestic situation and alleged misconduct, I've been thinking of that as non-political," Platt said. "Others may not see it that way. They may see it as political. It is possible it might impact on his effectiveness."

Platt, who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House in 1990 and is an elected member of the James Island Public Service District Commission, said he had no "judgmental comment." But, he said, that does not apply to the question of residency.

Appealing to the county Republican Party, Platt said, "would be an exercise in futility." He has not decided whether to challenge Scarborough's residency in court.

Scarborough said Platt raised the residency issue only to add public scrutiny to the divorce and to score political points. He also accuses Platt of hypocrisy.

A writer and poet, Platt has been divorced twice. In 1999, he published a book of poems called "Summer Days with Daughter," that includes several pieces with adult content that Scarborough criticizes for being "sexually explicit."

Despite the challenges he faces this year, Scarborough has the benefit of living in a strong Republican district. He has faced Democratic opposition in 2000 and 2004. Both times he received more than 63 percent of the vote. He was unopposed in 2002.

But Moore, the College of Charleston professor, said Scarborough is in danger.

"Eugene Platt has had a relatively high profile on James Island for a number of years and has been elected to public office," Moore said. "Prior to these incidents, few people would have predicted that Scarborough would have a difficult time being re-elected.

"But Scarborough has become a political liability to the Republican Party, and this race is certainly one to watch in November."