Bluffton’s Laura Sterling to run for U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn’s seat

Bluffton resident Laura Sterling is running for the 6th Congressional District seat, a position held by long-time Democratic leader U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn.

Sterling, a Republican, filed her campaign paperwork last week.

Clyburn, who was first elected in 1993, has also filed to run for re-election.

He is currently the third-ranking Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

As of Wednesday, Sterling is Clyburn’s only challenger.

Campaign manager and Greater Bluffton Republican Club president Joseph Iaco said Wedensday that he recently spoke with “key Republican leaders throughout the district, and no one had an inkling that (any other Republicans are) planning to jump into the race.”

Sterling, an owner of Bob’s Tax Service in Bluffton, said in a release that the “federal government is broken and I want to go to Washington to fix it.”

"In this year of change, I feel I can make a big difference in making people's lives better," she said.

This story was originally published March 23, 2016 at 12:23 PM with the headline "Bluffton’s Laura Sterling to run for U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn’s seat."