What do S.C. 5th District candidates stand for? We’ll find out this week
Several candidates have agreed to take part in a public forum next week ahead of a crowded race for South Carolina’s vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
So far, seven Republican candidates have said they will run for the 5th District seat, previously held by U.S. Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-Indian Land.
Local constituents can hear from candidates in person at two upcoming forums, including one in Lake Wylie Wednesday night. The event, which will take place 7 p.m. Wednesday at the River Hills Community Church life center, will feature six Republican candidates for the seat.
Those listed available for the forum include:
▪ Former state GOP chairman Chad Connelly of Newberry
▪ Anti-Common Core education activist Sheri Few of Lugoff
▪ Camden attorney Tom Mullikin
▪ Former state Rep. Ralph Norman of Rock Hill
▪ House Speaker Pro Tempore Tommy Pope of Rock Hill
▪ Indian Land attorney Kris Wampler
The other candidates who have not yet been listed as available for the Lake Wylie forum include former social worker Penry Gustafson of Camden and lone Democrat challenger Archie Parnell of Sumter. The forum will be moderated by Winthrop University’s Scott Huffmon, a professor of political science.
A separate event is planned in Fort Mill. The Fort Mill Oak Initiative will host an event 7 p.m. March 20 at Heritage International Ministries.
Filing for the seat began at noon Friday, and will run until noon March 13. The 5th District covers 11 counties, including Chester, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lancaster, Lee, Newberry, Spartanburg, Sumter, Union and York.
Norman gave up his state seat to run for the 5th District, which means a special election for state House District 48 will be held too. The filing, election and other dates for that election are the same as District 5.
Former York County Sheriff Bruce Bryant confirmed to The Herald last month that he will run for Norman’s old seat.
Mulvaney resigned his seat Feb. 16 after he was confirmed to head President Donald Trump’s Office of Management and Budget. Last fall, he won election to a fourth term in the House by 20 percentage points over Democrat challenger Fran Person.
Party primaries are scheduled for May 2. If no candidate wins a majority, a primary runoff between the top two finishers will be held May 16.
The general election is set for June 20.
David Thackham: 803-329-4066, @dthackham
The candidates
Chad Connelly
Connelly, a Newberry resident, was head of the state GOP from 2011 to 2013, leaving to become national director of faith engagement for the Republican National Committee. He served in the U.S. Army and the S.C. National Guard, and was a senior manager for a national engineering firm before launching his career as a small business consultant.
Sheri Few
Few, a Lugoff resident, is a founder of the anti-Common Core group S.C. Parents Involved in Education, which lobbied for South Carolina to abandon the national education standards. She ran for state education superintendent in 2014 primary, winning the 5th District in a nine-way GOP primary before losing the runoff.
Penry Gustafson
Gustafson, a Camden resident, is a former case manager for the Richland-Lexington Disabilities and Special Needs Board who also worked as a sales representative for Delta Foremost Chemical Corp. She has been an active member of the Kershaw County GOP but has never held public office.
Tom Mullikin
A former U.S. Army lawyer, Mullikin is commander of the all-volunteer S.C. State Guard. The Camden-based lawyer’s firm specialties include advising the manufacturers and energy industries on environmental issues. He vows to make term limits an issue.
Ralph Norman
A prominent York County real estate developer, Norman first was elected to the S.C. House in 2004, then left in 2006 to launch an unsuccessful bid to unseat then-U.S. Rep. John Spratt in the 5th District. Norman was elected again to the House in 2008 but resigned his seat last week to run for Congress.
Archie Parnell
The lone Democrat so far in the race, Parnell is a senior adviser at Goldman Sachs from Sumter. Parnell is a political novice, but holds more than 36 years of business experience on three continents, including Asia and Europe.
Tommy Pope
The former 16th Circuit solicitor is best known for winning a conviction in the infamous Susan Smith child-murder case in 1995. Pope now practices law privately in Rock Hill. He was elected to the House in 2010 and has been speaker pro tempore since 2014.
Kris Wampler
A 33-year-old family law attorney, Wampler is a North Carolina-licensed attorney with an undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina and a law degree from Wake Forest. While his law practice is in Charlotte, he has lived in Indian Land since 2010.
This story was originally published March 6, 2017 at 9:55 AM with the headline "What do S.C. 5th District candidates stand for? We’ll find out this week."