GOP Candidate Filings

Media Advisory

March 30, 2008

Contact: Tom Swatzel (843) 222-7456

Today at the noon close of filing for office, the following are the Georgetown County Republican candidates that filed for the November 4th general election:

Raymond Cleary- State Senate District-34
Jill Kelso- State House District-108
Rod Stalvey- County Auditor
Kenny Johnson- County Coroner
A. Lane Cribb- County Sheriff
John A. Jay High- County Sheriff
Waldo Maring- Probate Judge
Ron Charlton- County Council District-2
Austin Beard- County Council District-5
Willie Arthur Moore- County Council District-5
Bruce E. Yablin- County Council District-4

These filings will result in primary elections on June 10th for both Sheriff and the County Council District-5 seat.

Additionally, there will be a June 10th special election between Republican Austin Beard and Democrat Murray Vernon to fill the vacant County Council District- 5 seat. The term remaining is until the end of 2008.

School Politics- Partisanship didn't hurt public-education debate in Georgetown County

March 29, 2008

Below is an editorial from today's Sun News that highlights the need for Georgetown County school board elections to remain partisan- a position the Georgetown County Republican Party has vigorously supported.

EDITORIAL
School Politics
Partisanship didn't hurt public-education debate in Georgetown County

As part of its recent voting-rights settlement with the U.S. Justice Department, candidates for the Georgetown County Board of Education will run on a nonpartisan basis, beginning this year. No longer will school board ballots identify school board candidates as Republicans and Democrats.

This is OK. But in comparison with the main issue the Justice Department sought to address in forcing this change in the school-board electoral system, partisanship - let's face it - was a side issue.

The main issue, of course, was that the county's at-large school board voting system has tended, in recent years, to disenfranchise black voters. Under the settlement, which will take effect once the S.C. General Assembly "blesses" it, seven of the nine Georgetown County school board members will serve schoolchildren from single-member districts. Those districts will be drawn from the County Council district map. Only two school board members will be elected at large - by all county voters.

That change should address the Justice Department's main concern: that black school-board candidates be able to win elections. Because of shifting demographics and - yes - because of the rise of the Republican Party in Georgetown County, the at-large system now passing into history has yielded all-white school boards in the past two elections.

Since 2004, board members tended to be from the Waccamaw Neck and the city of Georgetown, where Republican strength is greatest. Black Democratic candidates have been unable to win elections. So it's understandable why some saw partisanship as part of the problem.

The problem with the end of partisanship, as county GOP Chairman Tom Swatzel has pointed out, is that school board candidates could have trouble distinguishing themselves from one another on the issues. There is no better instrument for honing and presenting political issues than a political party. There is no better instrument for getting voters interested in the issues - including education issues - than a political party.

We know: Swatzel's thinking runs afoul of the view that school board elections are somehow above politics. Not for nothing did a spokeswoman for the S.C. School Boards Association recently reiterate her group's position that school boards should be nonpartisan. "Education," she said, "is a nonpartisan issue."

This is fantasy. The Georgetown school board incumbents who stand for re-election later this year will still have party affiliations - and partisan feelings - even though they're technically nonpartisan. And the black candidates who run for the school board in hope of securing one of the new district seats are still likely to be Democrats - and feel like Democrats - even though they're technically nonpartisan.

Moreover, it's possible - even desirable - to apply "Republican" and "Democratic" principles to public education. Republican school board members, for instance, are more likely to be budget hawks than Democratic members.

None of this is to find fault with the deal as cut with the Justice Department and blessed by the federal courts. It's time to move on in hope that black voting power in Georgetown County will find fairer expression in future school board elections. But Swatzel is not wrong to express regret that partisanship will no longer directly shape the public-education debate in Georgetown County.

GOP Repeats Call for Partisan School Board Election

By Scott Harper- Georgetown Times, March 12, 2008

As they did during last week’s school board meeting, the Georgetown County Republican Party is once again urging the Justice Department and Legislative Delegation to keep the elections partisan.

Now, County Republican Party Chairman Tom Swatzel is asking Jamie Sanderson, the county’s Democratic Party chairman, to join him in this request.

The Georgetown County School Board passed a resolution last week calling for board elections to go from partisan, at-large contests to nonpartisan, district elections using the same boundaries as Georgetown County Council. Under this plan – which must be approved by the Justice Department and the Legislative Delegation – two board members would still be elected at large.

Swatzel, in a press release, said he sent a letter to Sanderson “taking the Democrats to task for their ‘silence’” concerning the proposed change to nonpartisan elections.

"While the county Republican Party has both written a letter to the county legislative delegation, which was released to the media, and had a spokesman appear before the school board to publicly voice our opposition to nonpartisan elections, the Democrat Party has simply done nothing," Swatzel wrote. "I respectfully call on the county Democrat Party to stand with the Republican Party in our support for higher voter turnout, particularly for low income and minority voters, and for helping candidates of lesser means run for office, by publicly opposing nonpartisan county school board elections before it is too late," he said.

Swatzel says national studies indicate nonpartisan local elections tend to result in lower voter turnout, particularly among low income voters. He also said nonpartisan favor affluent candidates who have access to financial resources to fund.

Swatzel notes this has been tried before. In 1994, the Justice Department opposed legislation for the District to change to nonpartisan elections. That decision was made by the Justice Department, Swatzel said, “because of its potential detrimental effect on minority voters.”

So far, the Georgetown Times has not received a response from the Democratic Party.

GOP Calls on Democrats to Oppose Nonpartisan School Board Elections

March 12, 2008

Jamie Sanderson- Chairman
Georgetown County Democrat Party
1515 Butts Street
Georgetown, SC 29440

Dear Jamie:

Congratulations on your election as the new chairman of the Georgetown County Democrat Party.

As I am sure you are aware, the county school board has decided that their new election plan will be nonpartisan, utilizing the seven existing county council districts plus having two board members elected at-large.

At this point the election plan would have to be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice, and possibly by the county legislative delegation.

The Georgetown County Republican Party has been publicly vocal in our opposition to nonpartisan school board elections. Numerous national studies have shown that nonpartisan local elections tend to result in lower voter turnout, particularly among low income voters, than partisan elections, and favor affluent candidates, who have access to financial resources to fund campaigns in the absence of political party assistance and support.

I will be glad to share these studies with you if desired.

Also, as you may be aware, in 1994 legislation was introduced to make Georgetown County school board elections nonpartisan, but that legislation was opposed by the Department of Justice because of its potential detrimental effect on minority voters. It is our belief that this objection to nonpartisan elections should still stand.

We believe that political parties are relevant to school board elections. Parties generate voter interest in important issues related to education based on our platforms, and as a result increase voter turnout. Party primary elections help to even better define issues between candidates, and greatly enhance voter knowledge of the candidates and issues.

What is extremely disappointing is the complete silence of the county Democrat Party on the issue of nonpartisan school board elections. While the county Republican Party has both written a letter to the county legislative delegation, which was released to the media, and had a spokesman appear before the school board to publicly voice our opposition to nonpartisan elections, the Democrat Party has simply done nothing.

I would like to think the county Democrat Party believes it is relevant to local elections like those for the school board. I know county Republicans are eager to participate in all elections and deliver our message of support for lower taxes, limited government, education reform via comprehensive school choice, and for the sanctity of life and marriage, among others.

I respectfully call on the county Democrat Party to stand with the Republican Party in our support for higher voter turnout, particularly for low income and minority voters, and for helping candidates of lesser means run for office, by publicly opposing nonpartisan county school board elections before it is too late.

Jamie, this issue is simply too important for the Democrat Party to sit on the sidelines.


Respectfully,


Tom Swatzel
Chairman

Kelso will seek SC House Seat 108 for Republicans

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 4, 2008
Contact: Jill Kelso (843) 543-0180

MURRELLS INLET--- Pawleys Island business owner Jill Kelso announced Tuesday that she has formed an official campaign committee and will file this month to run for State House of Representatives in District 108 on the Republican ticket. Kelso, 31, made the announcement as guest speaker at the organizational meeting of the Georgetown Women's Republican Club at Applewood House of Pancakes in Litchfield Beach.

Married to her junior high school sweetheart, John, Kelso says that their daughters Molly and Emily are a principle reason why she decided to seek the position. "In one way or another," she noted, "every job I held until I began running my own business convinced me that we cannot let another year go by without drastically improving education. Our children deserve better and I simply will not rest until we've finally turned the corner on this problem."

Kelso operates Smart Saver Advertising, a direct marketing firm serving Georgetown and Horry Counties. She received a degree in English from University of Pittsburgh. Following graduation, she worked as a full-time substitute teacher, then on the staff of the non-profit Close-Up Foundation, for the National Rifle Association, and helped to organize and open the new Sylvan Learning Center in Conway, SC.

"I was raised in a working-class environment," Kelso continued, "my grandparents, who immigrated to America from Greece, and my parents, taught me the importance of education and the value of hard work. Some of my earliest childhood memories were of dinners at my grandparents' house listening to heated discussions about politics among the grown-ups. Even then, I began developing the conservative core beliefs that guide me today."

Kelso is convinced that the people of this District need a representative that truly understands the role of government and will work hard with the majority in Columbia to support and pass the Governor's reform agenda. "The primary focus of my campaign and my first term in office will be to improve education, build roads and infrastructure and curb wasteful spending," she added.

"We must send a representative to the State House," she continued, "who will vote to put an end to loose fiscal policy and who will work with Mark Sanford. Our governor received over 70% of the votes in this District little more than a year ago, yet our representative continues to stand in the way of progress. I place my faith in free thinking, independent American citizens and the innovation and competition of the private sector over an overreaching bureaucracy. That is what I offer to my fellow citizens."