Sixth in a series on local

candidates in the Nov. 4 election

No compelling issues have surfaced as 12-year incumbent District 40 Sen. Brad Hutto, an Orangeburg Democrat, faces a political newcomer in the Nov. 4 general election.

John Strickland of North is the Republican seeking the seat.

Neither candidate had primary opposition.

“There’s no one specific statewide issue I’m aware of now,” Hutto said. “There’s nothing that says ‘vote for me’ because of this issue.”

Instead, the local attorney says, the election seems to be dominated by the focus on the presidential race, as well as the economy.

One problem with the Senate that he’d like to see change, Strickland says, is the way voice votes are cast.

“There needs to be transparency,” he said. “I’m a big proponent of, if you elect someone, you have to be accountable. Sen. Hutto is opposed to transparency and roll call voting in the Senate.”

His opponent’s concern with roll call voting, Hutto says, is really a non-issue.

“We vote in the Legislature all of the time. If you don’t record yourself as voting ‘no,’ then you’ve voted ‘yes.’ If I don’t say ‘no,’ then, I’ve said, ‘yes.’ It’s not really a problem,” he said. (Otherwise) it takes half an hour to physically call roll ... If the vote is 46-0, what have we accomplished ... It’s worked this way hundreds of years and there has not been a problem. I’m certainly not worried about people knowing how I vote ... To physically hold up the work of the Senate would be a waste of time.”

Also, explaining that most Senate bills are worked out in committee, he says that once they reach the floor for a vote, they’ve already faced objections and the compromise has been made.

District 40 includes part of Orangeburg County and all but two rural precincts in neighboring Bamberg County. In addition, all of Barnwell and Allendale counties are included. There are a total of 48,149 registered voters in the district — 26,939 are black or non-white; and 21,210 white. In Orangeburg County, there are 22,286 registered voters; compared with 12,443 in Barnwell County; 7,936 in Bamberg County and 5,484 in Allendale County.

n Brad Hutto

Thanking his constituents, Hutto says the Legislature “accomplished some good things and there’s a lot of work to be done. I hope to go back to Columbia and tackle some of the large issues.”

Top of the list, Hutto says, is reforming the tax structure and, along with that, providing equitable funding for public education. The child in Allendale, he says, should have the same chance for a good education as one from Rock Hill.

“We’ve got to come up with a fair and balanced formula for funding public education so we don’t end up with a two-tier system,” he said. “We need to move forward to ensure a statewide funding of public education ... What really needs to be addressed is a look at how we collect taxes to be sure we’re taxed fairly, whether it’s property or sales or income. We put in a lot of exemptions for industry and a lot of groups. We should revisit this to make sure it makes sense.”

Of immediate concern, Hutto says, is the economic picture and the $500 million in budget cuts the state is facing. While every state agency will absorb some cuts, he says efforts have been made to ensure that public education, along with health and human services, receive the least amount of cuts. “But every family and every business is being asked to make changes in their budgets in hard economic times, just as the government must do.

“Fortunately, we have seen some job creation,” said the lawmaker, citing forestry product facilities in Allendale and Barnwell and Jafza in Orangeburg. “We’ve done a good job in the area in trying to bring in a new company and new jobs, but there’s more work to be done,” he said. “I do think Orangeburg, with Jafza, has tremendous capacity for growth in the next years.”

That puts Orangeburg County in the unique position, he says, of moving from the category of undeveloped counties to one with more industrial development.

The biggest disappointments during the term, Hutto says, are the governor’s veto of the cigarette tax, “which, had we had it in place, the budget cuts being put on state agencies now would be dramatically less.” Also, he says he’s disappointed the governor vetoed the law that would have required all children under 15 to wear helmets when riding ATVs.

Hutto, who serves on the Judiciary Committee, says the local delegation works well together. And, he says, working well is what constituents expect of state government, too.

“They just expect us to run government well and efficiently do the things government is supposed to do,” he said.

A native of the Providence community, Hutto is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and Georgetown University Law School.

n John Strickland

In making his first run for public office, Strickland says he’s always been politically active.

“I don’t like the way things currently are going. It’s time to step up and so something or sit by the side and let things happen,” he said. “My views represent a lot of the views of this district.”

If elected, Strickland says he’ll be a voice for the district, even if it’s an issue he doesn’t agree with personally.

“One of the main things is that, for a lot of the problems we face, government is not the answer,” he said. “We’ve got away from representative government, where the voice of the people is not heard.”

School choice is another issue, Strickland says, that’s important to the district.

“If you open up competition between schools ... give people a choice as to where they send their kids,” he said. “If kids might be better served in another school, it’s my right as a parent to pick what school.”

Another issue of his campaign, Strickland says, is the “tax burden is holding people back. If we relieve the tax burden on our constituents, it will allow people to give more to churches” and other charities. If the creative power of people who want to start businesses is released, he says, there would be growth and increased tax revenues.

A native of North, Strickland attended Pembroke State and Winthrop University. He is self-employed as an insurance agent. Also, he serves on the state committee of Ducks Unlimited.

nT&D Government Writer Tucker Lyon can be reached at tylon@timesanddemocrat.com or by calling 803-533-5545.

 

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