Voters may see generational shift in Indian Land legislator’s election

Voters in House District 45 will be seeing a generational shift in their representation in Columbia.

After eight years serving voters in Lancaster and York counties, Deborah Long is stepping down as the district’s Statehouse representative later this year. The only announced candidate to replace the 60-year-old Long is the chairman of the Lancaster County Republican Party, who’s still in school finishing his college degree.

Brandon Newton, 21, of Lancaster announced his plans to run for Long’s seat shortly after the Indian Land optometrist said she wouldn’t be seeking re-election in November.

Newton said he had expressed an interest in running for Long’s seat, which covers the Lancaster County panhandle from the north side of Lancaster up to the North Carolina, plus some of the adjoining portions of York County in the Fort Mill and Rock Hill areas. But he didn’t think the opportunity would come up so soon.

“I was unsure if she was going to run or not,” Newton said. “I personally expected her to run again.”

Long said she wanted to serve another term, but in the past year felt like her attention was being drawn elsewhere.

“My husband passed away in September, my parents have health issues, and I felt that 10 years was my own personal term limit anyway,” Long said.

She was first elected to the House when then-state Rep. Mick Mulvaney ran for the District 16 Senate seat. Two years later, when Mulvaney defeated incumbent Rep. John Spratt for the 5th Congressional District seat, a 16-year-old Newton was an intern on the campaign.

“I got interested in politics following the ’08 campaign, and obviously I didn’t like the results,” Newton said. “So I wanted to get involved.”

Long has said she would support Newton’s bid for the seat, which if he doesn’t have any opposition in the GOP primary, he will contest while continuing with the job he’s held for the past year as the county’s Republican Party chairman.

Newton also worked on state Sen. Chauncey Gregory’s campaign before he was named Lancaster County’s party vice chair in 2013 and earning the promotion to chairman this past April. In between, he was also named the chairman of the party’s efforts in the 5th Congressional District.

He’s currently in the last year of studying for a double-major in liberal studies/history and organizational leadership at USC Lancaster, where he also serves as the student body president.

“I’ve heard free time is a fun thing to have,” Newton said.

Now heading into her final legislative session, Long said she’s glad to have had the chance to serve her constituents in the General Assembly.

“I’ve always been active on the grassroots, but it’s different on the other side of that brass rail,” she said.

Possibly her proudest moment was helping a constituent whose son was incarcerated on a relatively minor charge in a maximum-security facility, in a wing where another inmate had been murdered. After hitting some roadblocks working on his own, the father turned to Long to get his son moved to a less restricted prison, which he was the same week she put in a call to the Department of Corrections on his behalf.

But Long will stay busy at the Statehouse in 2016; House Speaker Jay Lucas has asked her to fill a vacancy on the influential Ways and Means committee.

“I would not have done that for anybody but Jay Lucas,” she said.

That dedication is appreciated by the young man seeking to fill Long’s seat.

“Rep. Long has served the district very well, and she will be greatly missed,” Newton said.

This story was originally published January 5, 2016 at 6:51 PM with the headline "Voters may see generational shift in Indian Land legislator’s election."