As Tom Rice defends his vote to impeach Trump, Republican challengers line up early
The 2022 Republican primary election is still 488 days away.
But that hasn’t stopped a handful of potential candidates announcing early that they plan to challenge the Grand Strand’s representative in Congress, Tom Rice. Current Columbia lawmakers, a former mayor, a salesman and a school board chair have all raised their hands to challenge the congressman.
The elephant in the room — pun intended — is Rice’s vote in January to impeach former President Donald Trump for inciting a mob of supporters to attack the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6. Many of the candidates have said they would not have voted to impeach Trump, with some saying Rice’s vote directly influenced their decision to jump into the race.
“I want to do the one thing that Tom Rice didn’t do, I want to listen to the people and see what the people in my district want me to do,” said Ken Richardson, the chairman of the Horry County Board of Education, at a recent press conference announcing he planned to challenge Rice.
South Carolina’s 7th congressional district stretches from Georgetown to the North Carolina state line, and westward to Chesterfield County. The district includes Georgetown, Horry, Marion, Marlboro, Dillon, Chesterfield Darlington and Florence counties.
Rice, for his part, is taking the challengers in stride. The framers of the U.S. Constitution, he said, “want you to be always answerable to the people.”
“It’s something I’m used to,” he said. “I’ve had opposition in every race, it’s nothing new. I look forward to the contest.”
He added that challengers defining their races around his vote to impeach Trump could falter, noting that he’s maintained a clear conservative record throughout his time in office.
“If it’s going to be based on my voting record, they’re going to have a hard time saying I’m not a conservative,” Rice said. “If they endorse a riot at the Capitol and an attack on the Constitution, I don’t think that’s a very defensible platform to run on.”
Even though you have plenty of time to study the candidates before making a choice at the polls, here’s what you need to know about the candidates looking to represent South Carolina’s 7th Congressional District.
Ken Richardson, chairman of the Horry County Board of Education
Richardson, a former car salesman who was elected to lead Horry County Schools in 2018, said he’s “always known that I wanted to run” for Congress, but made up his mind to challenge Rice in 2019.
At a recent press conference announcing his candidacy, he recalled a meeting he had with Rice in which he lobbied the congressman for a hurricane relief bill that would help Horry County Schools. He told reporters he left the meeting feeling disappointed and that he felt like he could do better if he had Rice’s job.
“When I walked out of that meeting, my gut was telling me that I hadn’t gotten anywhere with Congressman Rice,” he said. “I knew when I got in the car that I was going to run.”
Richardson grew up in Conway and made his living as a car salesman selling Mercedes’, BMWs, Cadillacs, Oldsmobiles and Jeeps at Fowler Motors, a business he would later take ownership of. Richardson also served for two decades on the board of the Horry Georgetown Technical College, chairing the board for most of those years, and stepped down in 2018 when he ran for school board. Richardson said he won’t seek re-election as a chairman of the school board as he runs for Congress, but will serve out the remaining two years of his term while he campaigns.
Richardson described himself as “a businessman,” “a newcomer” and “not a politician,” but said he’s not necessarily running in Trump’s mold. He said he didn’t like everything Trump did as president, including some of his tweets, but said he didn’t think Trump was responsible for inciting the mob that stormed the Capitol building, and said he wouldn’t have voted to impeach him. He said he thinks the Republican party needs some “mending” since Trump lost and Biden won.
If elected, Richardson said he’d push to bring federal dollars to the district for new road infrastructure, including the southern evacuation lifeline, though he said he wasn’t a big fan of I-73, a project Rice has supported for years.
“Do we need an interstate that’s going to get you here faster so you can sit in traffic longer? Or, here’s a crazy thought, could we just fix some of our local roads? Maybe get some local work done before we think about I-73,” he said.
But, he added, “If my constituents want it I’m going to push for it.”
Richardson also said he’d focus on education if elected, and would work to give state and local lawmakers more power over schools than the federal government. He said he’s running with a limited platform, focusing on a few key issues, but mostly listening to the people in the district.
“I found having education as my number one priority and with that...there’s going to be things that are asked of me in the congressional district and when that comes up I’m gonna try my best to do what the people in this district want,” he said.
Rep. William Bailey, SC House of Representatives District 104
Bailey, who currently serves in the South Carolina legislature representing the North Myrtle Beach area, said he is exploring a run against Rice, motivated by the congressman’s vote to impeach Trump.
“The last nail in the coffin for me was exactly what we saw when Congressman Rice went against our President,” Bailey said. “It was just a bad move for our congressman.”
Exploring a run for Congress is slightly different than formally running. It means Bailey will begin campaigning and fundraising to see if he can garner enough support for a full-blown race. He said that if he can’t muster up enough money or support, he’ll get behind the most serious challenger in the race.
Bailey, who worked as a police officer in North Myrtle Beach from 1990 to 2004, and then as the city’s public safety director from 2005 to 2010, said he was disappointed that Rice hadn’t gotten more accomplished during the four years Trump was in office.
“We had the right president in place, we had the senate,” he said. “As a whole, Rice has tried to represent our area but project-wise I’m kind of disappointed that we haven’t seen more benefit from him.”
Bailey said he would focus on jobs, infrastructure and reducing the role of the federal government in people’s lives if elected. For example, he said, he’d oppose efforts to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour, saying it would harm small businesses, and that education decisions should be made at the state or local level, not by the Department of Education.
He criticized President Joe Biden for pausing work on the Keystone XL oil pipeline, saying his actions caused people to lose jobs and could cause the price of oil and gas in South Carolina to go up. Bailey said he would want to pursue infrastructure projects that help re-nourish the Grand Strand’s beaches as well as create jobs in outside of Horry County. For example, he said, he’d support a road project or something similar that could connect the Interstate 95 corridor with Horry County and the Grand Strand.
“If we can figure out how to play what’s going on the grand strand with what’s happening in the I-95 corridor…it’s unlimited potential,” he said. “You can try to hit the sweet spot where everyone gets a bite of the apple.”
Bailey was lightly critical of Trump’s approach to politics, saying he didn’t agree with everything he did, but that he pursued the right policies, and that he’s work to continue that legacy if elected.
“I really like the policy of looking at this from a non-politician view and approaching it more from a business point of view,” Bailey said. “But at the same time it caused issues. Sometimes he approached issues so non-politically that he struggled to unite the government.”
He added: “His policies to me were spot on, it put us in a position to be in control of our own destiny. (We need to) push the resources down to the people trying to make good on their dreams.”
Jeanette Spurlock, manager of a self-storage business
Spurlock is a newcomer to politics in this eastern corner of South Carolina.
After moving from her hometown in Ohio to the Grand Strand 30 years ago following high school, Spurlock has worked in a number of fields in the area, raised a family, and gotten involved in various community organizations. Her first job was as a ticket-taker at the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not museum and she currently runs a self-storage facility.
She’s always paid attention to politics, she said, and her family is one that gathers on primary and general election nights to watch results come in. Her interest has intensified since Trump began his presidential campaign in 2015, she said, and people started encouraging her to run for something as she talked more and more about politics over the past year. Election Day 2020 proved pivotal for her, she said. She left work to vote at her polling place and met Melissa Watson, Rice’s Democratic challenger, campaigning outside. The two had a conversation, Spurlock said, and she walked away feeling inspired that she might be able to run for office, too.
“It just stopped me in my tracks,” she said. “I was just so proud of her.”
But despite that encounter with the Democrat, Spurlock said she’s a staunch conservative and voted “begrudgingly” for Rice, as well as Sen. Lindsey Graham.
She said she believes people who hold positions like U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative should be term limited, allowed to serve long enough to gain experience and be good at the job, but not so long that they prioritize relationships in Washington D.C. over their service to their constituents back home.
In addition, Spurlock said her platform includes three major issues: Jobs, flood control and social services reform.
She’s worked as the manager of several businesses, as well as a boat sales person, a bookkeeper for a cleaning business her ex-husband ran, a waitress and at a payday loan servicer. That last job, she said, eventually rubbed her the wrong way morally, which is why she believes that social services are necessary.
“There were times in my life when we didn’t know where we were going to turn,” she said, noting that she’s been through a divorce and that the economy crash of 2008 and 2009 hurt her and her family badly. “(But) what I’d like to see happen is to start creating some pathways to get these people more independent and less dependent. We can’t keep giving people a pass for not participating.”
Spurlock said she’d like to see more economic opportunities than just those along the Grand Strand.
“I don’t think it’s reasonable to accept that these bigger companies can justify not bringing investments here,” she said. “We have more to offer than a beach and beachwear stores.”
Spurlock said she’s also dealt with flooding directly, and said she’d like to figure out better policies for both recovering from floods and having too much development in areas that are known to flood.
“I think there’s a certain amount of responsibility that needs to take place not only from the builders but from the buyers,” she said. “Are we rebuilding in areas because people are forcing the builders’ hands? Are we doing the right things by giving permits to build in those areas that are flood zones?”
Spurlock said she’ll spend the next few months focused on getting her name out, building up recognition with folks who don’t know her.
“I just want to be fresh ears and fresh eyes on what people need,” she said. “To be a servant to the people, someone who’s an ally and someone who they can rely on.”
Rep. Russell Fry, SC House of Representatives District 106
Fry, the chief majority whip for Republicans in the House of Representatives in Columbia, is also exploring a run for Rice’s seat, he announced in late January. The Surfside Beach Republican is considered a serious challenger to Rice by some, due in part to his rapid ascent in South Carolina politics. Fry began practicing law a decade ago, and was first elected to the legislature in 2015.
Fry declined an interview request for this story, saying he was focused on his work in Columbia. However, in a public post on Facebook, the lawmaker said he would take a “blue collar work ethic” to Washington D.C. focused on “conservative causes” and “community needs.” In recent weeks, Fry has worked to push through a bill that would ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected by doctors.
“When you sent me to Columbia, you didn’t send me there to do nothing. You sent me to be engaged in the issues, to fight for conservative causes, and be attentive to community needs,” Fry wrote. “Whether as the Chief Majority Whip in the SC House or a member of the judiciary committee or any number of other hats worn, you sent me to be active and effective.”
He added: “Issues matter. People matter most.”
Justin Davison, safety equipment salesman
Even before the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, or Rice’s vote to impeach Trump, Davison announced that he intended to run for Congress. A salesman of fire alarms, security cameras and other safety equipment, Davison hails from Carolina Forest and currently lives in Loris with his family. Davison has volunteered with the South Carolina State Guard, helping with relief efforts after major recent hurricanes, and said he wanted to run because he cares about his community while he doesn’t feel politicians in Washington do.
“I’m just a regular individual. I work full time, but I want to be able to stand up for the constituents and give them a real voice,” he said. “We give and we give and we elect and we elect and nothing ever comes back to us.”
He said he’d like to see residents of the 7th congressional district have easier access to federal relief dollars after major storms or flooding events. He also said he’d implement a system where constituents could more easily voice their problems or concerns to him, and he could respond in a timely fashion so that they know their federal representative is working on their behalf.
“Even if someone’s listened to your problem, have they done anything about it? I want to create a platform for that,” he said.
Davison said he’d push for pro-life legislation, tax reduction and looser regulations on businesses. He added that he disagreed with Rice’s vote to impeach Trump, saying it was based on “emotion.”
“I firmly believe his vote was based on emotions and we’re taught in business that you don’t make quick decisions based on emotion,” he said.
Uniquely, Davison said that if he’s elected he wouldn’t serve for very long. He said he would serve a few terms and then return to his day job, saying that politicians having the same job for many years and earning the high salary that comes with it can cause them to lose touch with the people they represent.
“My plan is to serve my civic duty and get back into the workforce,” he said. “If you’re a congressman making $170,000 a year and you serve two terms, you forget what it’s like to be a working person.”
Mark McBride, former Mayor of Myrtle Beach
McBride, the former mayor of Myrtle Beach from the late 1990s through 2005 could also emerge as a challenger to Rice, he told The New York Times last month. McBride has been a frequent contestant for political office in recent years, running for an open seat in the South Carolina legislature last summer and for mayor of Myrtle Beach several years ago.
Several messages seeking comment by The Sun News was left with McBride.
McBride has caught some heat for previous decisions as mayor, including calling in the National Guard to monitor a motorcycle rally largely attended by Black bikers and opposing the opening of a gay bar in downtown Myrtle Beach.
After Rice’s vote to impeach Trump, McBride posted a video on Facebook calling for him to resign and circulated a similar petition. He’s offered harsh criticism of Rice since.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with comments from Rep. Tom Rice.
This story was originally published February 12, 2021 at 12:00 PM with the headline "As Tom Rice defends his vote to impeach Trump, Republican challengers line up early."
