CHARLESTON,S.C. – The Palmetto State basks in the political limelight every four years with the first-in-the-South presidential primary. But a rare sequence of events is drawing some big names to an off-season congressional race in South Carolina’s Low Country.
A primary is scheduled for March 19 to fill the U.S. House seat of now-Sen. Tim Scott,R-S.C. In December,Gov. Nikki Haley appointed Scott to succeed former Republican Sen. Jim DeMint,who resigned to become president of the conservative Heritage Foundation.
With no incumbent,the field was wide open for both novice and experienced politicians to enter the race for South Carolina’s Republican-leaning 1st Congressional District. The candidates have poured in;two Democrats and 16 Republicans are running.
Mark Sanford,who represented this district for three terms in the U.S. House from 1995 to 2001 before being elected governor in 2002,is the GOP frontrunner. Hand-painted campaign signs underscore his reputation as a fiscal conservative.
“Folks have had a lot of fun with it,”said Sanford,also a former Fox News contributor. “Ultimately,campaigns are about messages. And it’s certainly a reinforcement of what people have come to know about me for 20 years.”
Read More at Fox News . By Jonathan Serrie.