Drake

John A. Kauth/johnkayephoto.com

John A. Kauth/johnkayephoto.com

Ford

John A. Kauth/johnkayephoto.com

McLeod

John A. Kauth/johnkayephoto.com

Rex

John A. Kauth/johnkayephoto.com

Sheheen

The five Democrats running for governor were at the same event in Summerville Oct. 10, marking the first time they have appeared together in the Lowcountry since launching their campaigns earlier this year.

Columbia attorney Dwight Drake, state Sen. Robert Ford of Charleston, Charleston attorney Mullins McLeod, State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex and state Sen. Vincent Sheheen of Camden stumped at the Alice J. Cicenia Dinner, a major fundraiser for the Dorchester County Democratic Party.

Education and job creation were popular talking points for the candidates, who portrayed the 2010 gubernatorial election as a turning point for the state.

More than just a four-year term is at stake for the Democrats if one of them is not elected, because the next governor will have a hand in redistricting, Rex said.

“I’m afraid we’ll lose a viable two-party system in our state for at least a decade,” he said.

Rex said he is the right choice for governor in part because of his executive experience with the state Department of Education.

“I believe I have managed more people and more dollars than all the other candidates combined,” he said.

Sheheen was critical of his own party, saying Democrats in South Carolina have lacked vision for too long. He railed against the entire General Assembly for its failure to pass crucial health care legislation. “We can’t even raise the cigarette tax,” he said.

He said his focus on education centers not just on the students, but on the teachers as well. On the economy, he said he would create a small business division within the state Department of Commerce.

Sheheen, like the other candidates, spoke of repairing the state’s image in the wake of Gov. Mark Sanford’s extramarital affair and U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson shouting, “You lie!” during President Obama’s health care address to Congress.

“I want South Carolina to no longer be the butt of late night jokes,” he said.

Similarly, McLeod said: “We have a governor who’s on a forgiveness tour. We need a governor who’s on a jobs tour.”

McLeod entered the race for governor because he watched what was happening in state government and it bothered him, he said.

“I believe, and some may disagree, that we are at a point in our state’s history where the window of opportunity is not that wide and the time for change is not that long,” he said.

McLeod said that if he is elected governor, he would forgo running for any other office thereafter.

Making his first run for office is Drake, who worked in the administrations of former S.C. Govs. John West and Dick Riley.

Drake talked about the need for more jobs and pointed to his role in negotiating the deal that brought BMW to South Carolina. “I know how to do it,” he said, referring to job creation.

Addressing education, he referred to a pair of clashes with Sanford — one in court, where he represented a Chapin teenager who sued the governor to force him to accept federal stimulus funding and one in the legislature, where he said he organized a bipartisan coalition that defeated Sanford’s voucher program.

Ford joked about being the least-known candidate.

“You have no idea who I am,” he said with a smile.

What Ford lacks in notoriety, he makes up for in experience, he said.

He recalled meeting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when he was 15 and later going to work for the civil rights icon.

“I have some of the best training because I learned from the best,” he said.

Ford told the dinner crowd that South Carolina is a “legislative state” where the governor does not hold much power. That’s why it’s important for the executive to be a “people person.”

Ford is a proponent of bringing back video poker. He would use its revenue to help fund schools and build the “largest film and movie studio in America,” which he said would create a $1 billion film industry and 100,000 jobs.

State Democratic Party Chairwoman Carol Fowler, who was at the dinner, said the field of Democrats running for governor is crowded because “there’s a real chance that we can win next year.”

“In South Carolina it’s never easy for Democrats, but the possibility is there and the candidates are feeling it,” she said.

Contact David Berman at 873-9424 ext. 214 or dberman@journalscene.com

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