rss
mobile
Feeds
On Thursday, Senate hopefuls Republican Tom Davis of Beaufort and Democrat Kent Fletcher of Bluffton maintained a polite discourse before the League of Women Voters of the Bluffton Area -- a marked contrast from the bruising GOP primary for the District 46 seat, which spans Beaufort County.
"It's our third or fourth debate together and one of the things I've been struck by is the civility of our discourse, back and forth," said Davis, who emerged from a tough -- and at times nasty -- GOP primary battle with Catherine Ceips. "It's been a very enjoyable experience."
Fletcher pointed out a number of problems in the state, but avoided direct attacks against his opponent, Gov. Mark Sanford's former chief of staff.
"This is a matter of, 'Are you better off today? Are your hopes improved today compared to where they were a half-decade ago or almost a full decade ago in this country?' " Fletcher asked.
He said he wants to take on the state's Education Finance Act, under which Beaufort County sends millions of dollars to the state in taxes and receives little back in school funding because of the state's formula. That formula results in counties with the highest property tax values receiving the least amount of money. Beaufort County leads the state when it comes to average property tax value.
"What you will find in a Sen. Kent Fletcher (is someone who)is taking a look at your tax dollars and finding ways to better fund education and to correct an outdated formula that sends a dollar to Columbia but gives us back a dime," Fletcher said.
Davis commended his opponent on outlining the problems facing the state, but called himself the better choice when it comes to fixing them.
"Kent touched on a lot of the problems that we face in South Carolina right now. I'd like to boil it down to the specific solutions and things that I would do as your state senator to address those problems."
On education reform, Davis said he's been working with legislators and the state superintendent of education on the funding formula, "and I'm happy to report that there's a growing consensus that this is inequitable."
On the "Are you better off?" question, Davis pointed to work he did in Columbia over the last several years to broker a deal with the state of Georgia on the planned Jasper port.
"The most significant thing I did was travel to Atlanta about 14 times over an 18-month period, working out a deal with the chief of staff for (Georgia Gov.) Sonny Perdue."
The election for the state Senate District 46 seat is Nov. 4.
