Business owners running for Beaufort-area House District 124 differ on key issues
Republican Rep. Shannon Erickson is being challenged for the seat she’s held for almost 20 years by Democrat Melinda Henrickson of Lady’s Island, who is running for public office for the first time.
Education and abortion policy are key differences between the candidates, who are both area business owners, in the race for House District 124, which includes most of the city of Beaufort, the town of Port Royal, Shell Point, Parris Island, Cat Island, Coosaw Island, half of St. Helena Island and part of Burton.
Erickson, 61, of Beaufort, is president of Lowcountry Building Blocks, Inc., which owns and operates three Beaufort preschool and child development centers.
Henrickson, 48, owned a women’s apparel store on Lady’s Island specializing in eco-friendly and ethically made clothing. She closed the store in June to run for the seat.
Deciding to get involved
Henrickson says she got involved in politics about two years ago when the book ban issue arose in Beaufort County schools. She started going to school board meetings and speaking out and formed Families Against Book Bans that grew from 12 people to 500 members. The group began advocating at the state level in Columbia. She realized there were other issues she was concerned about including bills about education.
“She was going to run unopposed,” Henrickson said of Erickson, “and I decided somebody need to run again her.”
Longest serving rep
Erickson is running for her ninth two-year term. She was first elected in a special election in 2007 and has served for 17 years. She’s the longest serving Republican woman in the General Assembly.
She continues, she says, to work hard every day for the district.
Education
Henrickson and Erickson differ on high profile legislation involving private school choice that was approved in 2023 and later struck down by the state’s supreme court.
In May 2023, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed the Educational Scholarship Trust Fund bill into law to allow up to 15,000 students to get up to $6,000 a year to pay for tuition, transportation, supplies or technology at either private schools or public schools outside their district as well as other educational options.
Erickson, who is chairwoman of the House Education Committee, shepherded the bill through the House.
“Right now,” says Erickson, “school choice and those options are only for people who can afford it.”
Later, a coalition of parents, teachers and public education advocates asked the state Supreme Court to overturn the law. The state supreme court found the state’s Education Scholarship Trust Fund violated the state Constitution’s “prohibition against the use of public funds for the direct benefit of private educational institutions.”
Henrickson says that Erickson’s support for the legislation is one of the reasons she’s running. In her view, the legislation was “egregious” because it “took taxpayer money and siphoned those dollars to private schools.”
Erickson says the majority of the bill was actually upheld. In light of the state supreme court ruling, the funding process needs to be reworked, she said, to make it clear that the public money is following the child and not being directly allocated to the school, she said. Lawmakers will take up that issue during the next session, Erickson said.
Abortion
Abortion is another issue over which the two candidates disagree.
First and foremost, says Henrickson, she is “running for womens’ reproductive freedom.”
“I believe the government has no place in making decisions about our bodies,” Henrickson says. “Women are very fired up this year.”
Erickson says she is a “pro-life person with protections for the life of the mother.” She supported the law approved in 2023 that bans most abortions after six weeks with protections for the life of the mother.
Henrickson: We all belong
Health care is another top issue for Henrickson, who describes herself as a community advocate. She supports expanding Medicaid, which she says would lower the cost of health care.
Public schools need to be fully funded, she says, and she wants to see more support for teachers who she says are leaving the profession leading to teacher shortages.
The region’s infrastructure needs improving and the energy grid is old and investments in it now will provide an opportunity to invest in clean energy, she says.
Running against an incumbent is an “uphill battle,” Henrickson says. “There are some people in this community who have voted for her their entire adult lives,” Henrickson said.
But she says that her slogan of “Lowcountry: Where we all belong,” embodies her commitment that every voice will be heard and valued. “I believe our diverse backgrounds make us stronger,” Henrickson said.
Erickson: Seniority pays off
Erickson, who is also a teacher, says her overall top issue is maintaining the Lowcountry’s quality of life especially in light of the rapid growth.
To her, that means prioritizing public safety, education and the environment, diversifying the economy and taking care of infrastructure needs like roads and bridges.
To prepare for continued growth, she added, the state needs invest more in energy infrastructure and make it more diverse, Erickson says. The growing cost of homeowner’s and liability insurance is another issue Erickson says needs to be addressed.
Erickson says her seniority in the House helps her get results in Columbia. She pointed to the Russ Point landing issue on Hunting Island earlier this year. When the state announced that it planned to close the public access, she and other local lawmakers were able to make sure $5 million was secured “in a matter of days” to ensure it remained open.
“That’s why I keep doing the work,” Erickson says.
When she was first elected, Beaufort County was receiving zero education funding but she and the county’s delegation protested arguing that “not all of our families live in condominiums on Hilton Head.” Today, the county receives $75 million for local schools and funding for higher education increased by four times.
This story was originally published October 30, 2024 at 12:50 PM.
