Wilson, Clyburn looking strong

COLUMBIA -- The South Carolina congressman best known for shouting "You lie!" at the president and the highest-ranking black member of Congress are both expected to cruise to victory in the state's June 8 primaries.

Republican Rep. Joe Wilson, who raised his national profile when he heckled President Obama during a health care speech to Congress, again faces a primary challenge in his 2nd District from a Barnwell businessman he's beaten before.

Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn, the House majority whip, faces his first primary opponent in eight years and said he doubts the motives of the businessman running against him. The winner in the 6th District primary faces one of three Republicans.

"No real Democrat would ever challenge the speaker or the leader or the whip in a primary," Clyburn said in a recent interview. "Democrats don't do that."

South Carolina's primary elections will be pivotal for three of the seven posts that send officials to Washington. The coastal 1st District and western 3rd District are being vacated by Republican incumbents, and Republican Rep. Bob Inglis in the northwestern 4th District is trying to fight off challengers who question his conservative credentials.

But the powerhouse politicians in other seats will likely roll to wins in June. That includes Wilson and Clyburn and Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, who is campaigning more vocally for candidates in other states than he is against a little-known former Democrat. Democratic Rep. John Spratt has no primary opposition in his northern 5th District.

Political scientist Neal Thigpen said Wilson and Clyburn will handily win.

"It's a tune-up for both of them. Not all opposition is bad. Light primary opposition can get your organization tuned up," said Thigpen, a professor at Francis Marion University. "But the 6th and 2nd are not going to be congressional districts to watch on election night."

Wilson is paying some attention to campaign season, already airing ads using the mass of cash he raised after yelling at Obama in September. He's drawn donations from across the country and raised $3.7 million as of March 31, according to campaign finance reports.

Wilson, a 62-year-old real estate attorney who served in the South Carolina state Senate for 15 years before winning a special election to Congress in 2001, said his campaign is focused on the need to create jobs and replace the recently passed health care reform law with one he says would be more affordable.

Primary opponent Phil Black is not taking campaign contributions. Black, 65, says his goal is to get publicity for his ideas on creating jobs, improving children's lives and stopping illegal immigration.

The winner will face Democrat Rob Miller, a former Marine captain who saw his campaign coffers fill after Wilson's outburst. Miller, who has no opposition, raised $2.3 million by the end of March. Wilson beat both him and Black in 2008.

The 2nd District stretches across 10 counties from the suburbs of Columbia south and west to the state's southern beaches and includes some of the state's poorest and wealthiest counties.

In Clyburn's district, the congressman is challenged by Gregory Brown, a business owner who says he is a lifelong Democrat and believes the district needs basic infrastructure improvements to lure industry and jobs.

The district includes some of the poorest sections of the state, including the Interstate 95 area, dubbed the "Corridor of Shame" in a 2005 documentary about deplorable conditions in schools.

"If he's ranking so high, then why is his district ranking so low?" Brown asked.

Clyburn retired as director of the South Carolina Human Affairs Department before becoming the state's first black congressman since Reconstruction when he was first elected in 1992.

Three GOP candidates are competing for the nomination in the mostly minority district. None has reported raising any money for the race; Clyburn had raised more than $2 million as of March 31.

Nancy Harrelson, who lost to Clyburn in the last general election by a margin of 67 percent to 32 percent, is running for the Republican nomination again against Colleen Payne and James Pratt.

Harrelson, who is in the construction business, said jobs are the only real issue in this year's elections. The 56-year-old Marion County mother of two and grandmother of five said taxes need to be cut so businesses can make a better profit and hire more workers.

Payne, 49, said she has lived in South Carolina since 2008 but wants to do something to change the social, racial and economic divides in the state. She described herself as an inventor of household products and a writer and said if she is elected she would take only $100,000 of the $174,000 congressional salary.

Pratt is a 50-year-old Florida native who played outside linebacker for the Gators from 1979 through 1982. He has a degree in recreation and tourism from the University of Florida and manages an outdoor advertising company in Orangeburg. He said he decided to make his first run for office because he worries about the government's level of spending and debt.