On the Local Campaign Trail... Or , What Everyone Else is Doing...

The primaries locally are starting to heat up. Luckily, I get the Primary off, so I'm not in such a rush. I went to a couple of local events, and the two State House races will be interesting. At a fundraiser for Karen Floyd, given by Mark Buyck, I chatted with School Foundation Director Debbie Hyler, who is also my doctor's wife. They essentially raise funds for District 1, so naturally, she is not in favor of consolidation of Florence County. But I got a lot of useful info from her.

Next was a forum about the 1% State Infrastructure Bank tax hike. This was the 11th one in the past two weeks, so it's obvious that Florence County wants the money. I'll have a post on the subject at another time. Most of the citizens are for it, but they want assurances that the money will go towards roads. Some candidates have been around, some are laying lower, so here is my preview on the two primaries. Note: neither Jim McGee or Marty Coates have come out to endorse any candidate that I know of.

Licia Stone vs. Phillip Lowe. This will be the quieter of the two races, mainly because neither has the cash of the seat 63 candidates. Stone is chair of Citizens in Action, a local tax watchdog group, which should interest the Sanford camp. I know very little about Lowe. The only item that has come up so far is that he worked against a local candidate held in pretty high esteem in the area, and that person has a memory. Good Luck! The winner will run against LaRue Kirby, who I know pretty well. I can't tell you how much moolah he has spent at Florence Toyota, but you can guarantee his Tundra runs like a champ! However, business aside, he has lost twice ( the political kiss of death), and last time he backed out.

Bubby Floyd vs. Kris Crawford. This one will be fun... Doctor vs. Businessman , Old Florence vs. New Florence. The two are definitely going about running in different ways. Bubby is using his connections to be everywhere, Kris is going a little more gimmicky- he has a group of Red Smurfs in Crawford shirts wherever he goes. Right now, they are playing nice. However, I can see this one exploding near the end. Both are spending a lot of time and money on this, and neither wants to lose. They are promising to endorse the winner, and hopefully it will stay that way. Tick, tick, tick........ The winner will face Steve Calcutt, another attorney. I had a both next to him at the Senior Life expo. He was giving out Ice Cream and flags. I've read a couple articles he had about retirement , and he seems pretty smart, so the General could be tougher for the winner than they might think... Stay Tuned.