Voting advice – endorsements and such

This isn’t as thorough as I’d like, but I had a grandson born Saturday… my first grandchild… so I was a bit distracted and wasn’t able to spend the time on this that I would have liked to.

Here is some guidance for your decisions of who to vote for Tuesday.  Take it for what it is… I’ve done the best research I can and picked a few candidates who I think are solid, but ultimately, the choice is yours.  If there wasn’t a clearly demonstrated ability in the candidate to fight against the establishment for our liberty, freedom, and right to private property, I did not offer any advice.

There are many more good candidates who will not be on the ballot Tuesday.  They’ll be gathering petitions over the next month and hopefully will make it back on the ballot in November.

But, for today, we’ll just address those races where there is a primary contest on Tuesday.

Here are my thoughts:

Deedee Vaughters, candidate for Senate 26, understands the proper role of government.  She will fight to put all government spending on the record by moving the huge $8 billion government slush fund commonly referred to as “other funds” in to the general fund where all appropriations will receive a recorded vote.  She opposes economic incentives that burden individuals and small businesses with heavy taxes while giving breaks to large out of state corporations.  She is strongly pro-life.  She will defend your right to keep and bear arms.

Her opponent, Duane Naquin, would not answer our survey in writing.  He told me he was afraid I might use it against him in the future.  I did have lunch with him.  We talked about the survey questions.  He supports Economic Incentives and special tax breaks, he was weak on gun rights, he was equivocating about voting against the current legislative leadership.  A vote for Duane will be a vote for a middle of the road candidate.

Lee Bright, Senator for district 12, has the highest score on the Palmetto Liberty score card demonstrating a consistent vote in the Senate for life, liberty, and defense of private property.  He has been the leading voice in the Senate to protect life before birth.  He attacks wasteful spending like a bull dog.  The establishment has launched a huge smear campaign to distract from his voting record and from the murky past of his opponent, John Hawkins.

John Hawkins is trial lawyer who endorsed Democrat Vincent Sheheen for Governor and donated to Democrat Ted Vick who was running for Congress until he was arrested for DUI.  As a side note, Ted also had a 21 year old female college student in the car with him when he was arrested. He was just giving her a ride home, he said.  Mighty nice of him.  I wonder what his wife and twin daughters think of his generosity.

Kevin Bryant, Senator for district 3, also one of the highest scores on the Palmetto Liberty score card, is a solid vote for life, liberty, and defense of private property.  He was the primary sponsor of the South Carolina Constitutional Carry Act of 2012 that would restore our right to keep and bear arms without government infringement.  He needs to return in order to continue to fight for our right to self defense.

Jim Lee , candidate for Senate district 8, has been fighting for the tax payer for many years.  He will represent us well in the Senate.  He will fight against the establishment as they try to raise taxes, spend our hard earned money, and hid their doings from the voters.

Peter vonLehe Ruegner , candidate for SC House district 110, has already proven himself a stand up man who has fought down the establishment and refused to be bullied.  You’ll remember that Lin Bennett, chairman of the Charleston GOP tried to prevent him from registering to run, even offering him some other position… presumably if he didn’t run.  Put Peter proved his mettle and will do so even more when he becomes a member of the SC House.  Chip Limehouse, his incumbent opponent, earned a lowly 21% on the Palmetto Liberty Score Card.  He needs to be retired after June 12th.

Ryan Payne, candidate for SC House district 44, is a young man who will rock the House and be our guard dog!  If you have ever heard him speak, you know what I mean. He is full of energy and will fight for us without fear.  He understands the roll of government and will defend our liberty and freedom.

Donna Wood , candidate for SC House district 37, will support school choice, family values, and our right to self-defense.  She will knock out the establishment crony Steve Parker.  Steve earned a low 36% on the Palmetto Liberty score card.  Remember, Steve cast the deciding vote against the school choice bill in 2011 and objected to voting for the Roll Call bill that eventually required that a record be kept of legislators votes on every new law and every section of the budget.

Billy O’Dell has a low score of 31% on the Palmetto Liberty Score Card.  He cast several votes against mandating roll call votes.  He voted for the I-95 Corridor Authority.  He voted for the largest budget in state history, and against refunding excess tax collections. He needs to retire.  A vote for Riley Harvell will do just that!

Well, that’s it for this primary

There are other contested races, but none where we feel confident giving advice on who to vote for (or against, as the case may be).  Please, review our Score Card, don’t listen to what candidates say, but watch what they do.  Pray hard, make a good choice, and may God bless us this Tuesday.

Above all, make sure you go vote Tuesday!