2 Republicans running in Tuesday’s primary for SC House District 121. Here are their views
Eric Erickson and Tim Swain are running in the Republican primary for SC House District 121.
The winner will face incumbent, Michael Rivers, a Democrat, in November.
Seats also are open this year in districts 118, 120, 122, 123, 124, but District 121 is the only one with a primary contest.
The two GOP candidates were sent questionnaires and asked to give their work and educational backgrounds, prior political experience and goals for the job.
Here are their answers:
Eric Erickson
Occupation: S.C. attorney for over 25 years in Beaufort County; Erickson Law Firm LLC- principal owner; former special prosecutor for South Carolina Attorney General Office; former public defender; U..S. Army-ER physician assistant.
Education: Thomas M. Cooley Law School J.D.; University of Michigan-Masters Arch & Design (no degree); Washington State University-B.A.
Have you run for office before? Yes. 2020 SC House 121
What do you consider to be the top issue facing your constituents this year? What to do with the extra $4.6 billion surplus in state government. I believe that we can catch up up on roads and bridges, give money to mental health “mobile crises clinics” and “crises lines” to save lives, reduce the 7% income tax rate to 6% and 3%, raise teacher base salaries to $40,000 per year.
If you are elected, how will you be different than the person who held this seat before? This legislative session , Michael Rivers authored four bills and was 0-4 with none passing. An example of one of his bills, H-4903, that failed was that Rivers wanted to have Spanish a “core” subject in the schools. If elected I would like to get on the judicial, medical and military affairs committees and try and pass a law that shields drug companies’ names from protesters regarding lethal injection drugs.
What is Your growth philosophy? Having gone to architecture school and been appointed to serve on the Town of Port Royal Boards of Historic Preservation and Design Review for the past 14 years has prepared me to see both sides of the equations in protecting citizens against bad development that strains communities when they grant too many perks to the developer.
Timothy “Tim” Swain
Occupation: Building/Construction/Estimating
Education: Some college
Have you run for office before: No
What do you consider to be the top issue facing your constituents this year? Right now the top issue facing everyone is how much everything costs. Inflation, gas, our economy is spiraling out of control.
If you are elected, how will you be different than the person who held this seat before? The seat is currently held by a Democrat. As a Republican, I would be vastly different than the gentleman who has the seat now. I’ll protect your Second Amendment rights. I’ll make sure no one forces you to wear a mask or take a shot you don’t want.
What is your growth philosophy? Attracting new business is usually achieved by low taxes, operating costs, and not a lot of red tape. Some areas utilize liaisons to help new businesses get set up in their areas to take the stress away from the owners. To help existing businesses, I think we need to make sure we are using E-Verify on our jobs, have more community events that promote local businesses, and again make sure that we don’t overburden anyone with too many licenses and fees.
This story was originally published June 13, 2022 at 10:09 AM.