Navy veteran focuses on ‘reproductive freedom’ in race against Hilton Head area’s senator
The issue of access to abortion is one of the biggest differences between incumbent Republican Tom Davis, an attorney, and Democrat Gwyneth Saunders, a retired U.S. Navy veteran and former journalist, in the race for the state Senate seat representing southern Beaufort County.
Senate District 46 includes most of southern Beaufort County including Hilton Head, Bluffton and Sun City. It does not include Callawassie and Spring islands. About 5% of the district falls within Jasper County.
This is the first election since the Senate District 46 was redrawn following the 2020 census. Prior to 2020, 5% of the district was in northern Beaufort County including Beaufort, where Davis once resided.
In 2022, Davis moved to Bluffton so he could run again in the redrawn district.
Davis, 64, served as a senior policy advisor and chief of staff in former Gov. Mark Sanford’s administration. He is an attorney who has practiced law with Harvey & Battey, a long-time Beaufort-area law firm, since 1985.
He’s seeking a fifth term in the Senate but it’s just the third time he’s faced opposition since his first run in 2008 which was followed by reelection in 2012, 2016 and 2020.
Davis, who is chairman of the Senate Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee, says he now ranks 13th in seniority out of 46 Senate members. That seniority and key committee positions put him in a position of influence that helps Beaufort County get its fair share of funding for roads, K-12 schools and higher education, he said.
“We have tremendous needs down here and we have more seniority and clout than we’ve ever had in Beaufort County,” Davis said.
His opponent
Saunders, 72, who lives in Sun City, served in the Navy’s Chief of Information Office in the Pentagon as bureau chief of the Navy Wire Service, a news service disseminating information throughout to Navy personnel around the world. After retiring from the Navy, Saunders worked for a Washington Post newspaper chain and several media outlets in Beaufort County.
She was the first woman commander of the Sun City Veterans Association.
Saunders acknowledges she faces a “long road” against the long-time incumbent who is better connected and financed.
“But I have the experience and the capability to do it,” she says. “I figure I have as good a chance as anybody else.”
Saunders on abortion
One of the biggest differences between the two candidates on the issues centers on abortion. Saunders has made “reproductive freedom” one of the biggest planks in her campaign.
Saunders says she “will fight tirelessly for women’s freedoms” and pointed to Davis and his Republican colleagues for passing what she describes as one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the nation.
On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Dobbs v. Jackson, overturned Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), leaving the decision on reproductive rights up to the states.
In May 2023, Gov. Henry McMaster signed a bill passed by the General Assembly banning most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. There are exceptions for rape, incest, fatal fetal anomaly and the mother’s life.
Saunders criticized Davis for voting for the six-week abortion ban.
Davis on abortion
Davis counters that he supported legislation would have allowed a woman to have an abortion for any reason during the first trimester, which is zero to 13 weeks, and, after that, only in instances of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother or the baby if it could not survive outside the womb.
However, Davis said, when the first trimester bill failed, he said he had to chose between an existing law allowing abortions through the second trimester, which is 13 to 26 weeks, or the six-week ban. Restricting abortions around six weeks of pregnancy was closer to his position of supporting abortions only through the first trimester, he said.
He said he filibustered a more extreme bill that called for an abortion ban after the egg is fertilized and will fight such measures again if they are proposed next session.
Davis sees two competing rights at issue, the mother’s and the child’s. He believes that at some point in the 9-month pregnancy the sovereignty of the woman yields to the right of the child to be born. He says his position is more in line with the majority of South Carolinians.
Saunders on schools, climate change, guns
Saunders also says she is running because she is a strong supporter of public education and will work to repeal the school voucher program funneling public taxpayer dollars to private schools.
“We need to improve our educational facilities and pay teachers what they are worth so they are not going paycheck to paycheck,” Saunders told the Beaufort Gazette and Island Packet.
We need to “stop banning books,” she added, “and support our librarians.”
As a trained gun owner who served in the Navy, Saunders says she understands weaponry. But she also wants to see what she calls common sense gun safety reforms arguing communities are less safe as Republicans have passed previous gun laws in South Carolina.” She says she would work to overturn the Constitutional Carry Law that allows everyone 18 and over to openly carry a weapon without training or permit.
The state can’t wait to take action on climate change, Saunders adds. “People aren’t going to come here if the place is under water,” said Saunders, saying climate change won’t just affect the environment but also the area’s tourist-reliant economy. She says she will call upon the Legislature “to establish forward-thinking, pro-active plans to protect our coastlines, marine ecosystems, and infrastructure.
She says the leadership abilities she gained while serving in the Navy would serve her well as a state senator.
Davis on seniority, growth, energy
Davis says his top issue is making sure the Lowcountry gets sufficient funding for roads and education.
Another priority for Davis is the area’s rapid growth.
Beaufort County, says Davis, has an “over development problem.” If the region’s leaders do not get a handle on it, he says, it will overwhelm roads and pollute waterways and drive up taxes because more schools and law enforcement will be needed. That’s why Davis said he introduced the County Green Space Sales Tax bill in 2022 to empower counties to undertake land preservation efforts. The bill allowed counties to ask voters for funding for green space creation via a 1% sales tax. Beaufort County used the measure in 2022 when residents approved a $100 million referendum for green space conservation.
“We were the first one to do it,” Davis said. “Everybody’s watching us.”
South Carolina is growing so fast the state isn’t generating enough power to attract new industry, Davis says. Davis says he chaired a market reform study committee that looked at ways to increase the amount of power coming into the grid to keep prices and rates down. The results will lead to energy-related legislation to spur the expansion of nuclear and gas-fired power plants and renewable energy like solar, Davis said.
Davis says he’s also been working on reducing flood, wind and hail insurance premiums. Sometimes insurance companies justify rate increases by projecting losses on a regional basis. But that approach makes premiums higher for Lowcountry residents in South Carolina because states such as Florida often have higher exposure, Davis says.
Campaign finances
Davis holds a large advantage in campaign income and spending over Saunders.
Davis had collected $117,790 in cash contributions in the most recent campaign reporting period from July 1 to Oct. 16 and a total of $558,267 for the entire election. Among the $1,000 contributors to his campaign were Strategic Synergies LLC; DoorDash Inc.; Humana; Butler Marine in Beaufort; Harvey and Battey law firm; Seacrest Development Co.; and Graves Farms.
Davis spent $138,432 in the most recent reporting period and $494,202 during the entire election.
Saunders had $17,832 in cash contributions in the most recent reporting period and a total of $33,179.
Including “in-kind” donations and loans, her total income for the election has been $53,872,
Some of largest donations came from the Beaufort County Democrat Party ($1,000), Planned Parenthood ($750) and Ronnie Liebowitz ($500).
Saunders spent $15,939 during the most recent reporting period and a total of $21,608 during the election.
This story was originally published October 30, 2024 at 8:52 AM.
