COLUMBIA — South Carolina’s four freshmen congressmen say they want to continue to fight for limited government and reduced spending, while their Democratic opponents accuse them of contributing to gridlock in Washington.

Republican Reps. Tim Scott, Jeff Duncan, Trey Gowdy and Mick Mulvaney discount that characterization, saying they were elected to stem spending.

Their opponents face long odds, with little cash to spend on their campaigns in heavily conservative districts. Three of the challengers are pro-abortion rights women in their first political race, who tout a need for more female representation. South Carolina hasn’t elected a woman to Congress since 1990.

South Carolina’s only Democrat in Congress, 20-year veteran Rep. Jim Clyburn, has lacked major party opposition this year in the majority-minority 6th District. But the House’s highest-ranking black member again faces Green Party candidate Nammu Muhammad, who received less than 1 percent of the vote in a three-way race in 2010.

1st District

Scott faces first-time candidate Bobbie Rose in the 1st District, which stretches along the state’s southern coastline.

Rose said she’s running to give voters a choice between a tea party conservative and a liberal Democrat. The 54-year-old rental property manager and former teacher supports the federal health care overhaul that Scott wants to repeal. She believes those making more than $250,000 should pay more taxes. She advocates a “strong federal government that looks out for all the citizens.” And she disagrees with Scott’s push to cut business regulations.

“I happen to think government works better with strong, smart regulations,” said Rose, who moved to the Charleston area in 2006 from New York City. The coal miner’s daughter added, “I’m interested in the government protecting the water and air and environment. It’s not the business of corporations to self-monitor.”

Scott, a 47-year-old former state House member and Charleston County councilman, said the accusation that freshman House Republicans created gridlock is hogwash. Instead, he said, the 2010 elections that put the GOP back in control of the House allowed the caucus to “stop more bad things from happening.”

He hopes that over the next two years, Congress can begin flattening the tax code, to include lowering the corporate tax rate while eliminating exemptions that allow some companies to pay little to nothing.

He had nearly $550,000 cash available Sept. 29, compared with Rose’s $34,000, by far the most among the incumbents’ challengers, according to the latest campaign finance reports.

Libertarian Keith Blandford is also challenging Scott.

3rd District

Duncan faces radio talk show host Brian “Ryan B” Doyle in the 3rd District along the state’s northwestern border.

While Doyle is running as a Democrat, he says he’s an independent and happily notes he received no support from the Democratic Party. He even links himself with former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, saying they have similar anti-war stances.

He accuses Duncan, a member of the Tea Party Caucus, of being too conservative. He faults Duncan for not “bringing home the bacon” and for supporting drilling off South Carolina’s shores, which Doyle fears could wreak environmental havoc.

Doyle said he’s been forthcoming with voters about his 2003 conviction on six felony counts related to Medicare fraud, which resulted in a 30-month prison sentence. Noting that was a decade ago, he said he made the wrong choice by not being forthcoming with the government, but insists he did nothing wrong himself.

“Thank God we answer to God and not people. We all make mistakes. It happens,” he said.

Duncan, also 46, said he is proud that House GOP freshmen were “able to move the meter back a little toward conservative policy.”

The former state House member wants to continue to push against deficit spending and federal debt, and advocate for limited government. He said that’s what he and other GOP freshmen were sent to Washington to do, so he doesn’t mind some of the name-calling.

“Obstinate, hard-headed, whatever you want to call us. We’re unabashed about our resolve on fiscal responsibility,” he said.

Duncan had $163,000 cash available as of Sept. 29. Doyle had about $200 as of July 6.

4th District

Gowdy faces first-time candidate Deb Morrow in the deeply red 4th District that covers Greenville and Spartanburg counties.

Morrow, 61, calls Republicans obstructionist collectively, but unlike the other challengers does not directly criticize her opponent.

“We need more balance,” she said, adding that while she disagrees with Gowdy’s positions, she admires him, especially after being on the campaign trail herself.

Morrow, an Asheville, N.C., native who’s retired from computer services, decided to run for office after getting involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement and organizing Spartanburg’s first Occupy demonstration.

She believes that those earning more than $250,000 should pay more taxes and that the federal health care overhaul was a great achievement. She discounts criticism that the law will hurt the economy, calling the expanded coverage a fiscally responsible alternative to emergency room care.

Gowdy, who describes himself as a constitutional conservative, said he often finds the inner-workings of Congress just as frustrating as his constituents do. The 48-year-old former solicitor said Congress tends to create a crisis, only to avert it.

“Most of our catastrophes are of our own making,” he said.

Gowdy had $266,000 cash available on Sept. 29. Morrow said she just recently hit the $5,000 fundraising threshold that triggers required campaign finance filings. It had not yet posted online.

Green Party candidate Jeff Sumerel is also in the race.

5th District

Mulvaney faces Joyce Knott in the 5th District that spans from Sumter County near the middle of the state to Lancaster, York and Cherokee counties along the northern border.

Knott, a 63-year-old small business owner, is a first-time candidate but long-time Democratic activist, including as campaign scheduler for former Rep. John Spratt, whom Mulvaney defeated in 2010. She was also treasurer for the York County Democratic Party and 5th District staff director for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

She too accuses Mulvaney, also a Tea Party Caucus member, of creating gridlock. She says he and other Republicans who signed a no-tax pledge abandoned their responsibility and make it difficult to negotiate solutions on fiscal problems. She wants to offer companies incentives to bring their manufacturing jobs back to the United States and believes those earning above $250,000 should pay more taxes.

Mulvaney, a former state House member and senator, calls the gridlock label a Democratic talking point. The gridlock is mostly in the Senate, he said, noting he worked on an amendment with Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank.

Mulvaney, 45, credits the House GOP freshmen for changing the dialogue on the national debt.

“Republicans are saying deficits are bad. Democrats are saying it’s bad. I think that’s a major improvement,” he said.

Mulvaney had $273,000 cash available on Sept. 29, compared with Knott’s $5,000.