Last night, at the Fountain Inn Debate Trey Gowdy won the straw poll gaining 43 votes out of the 139 taken. The Greenville News has the full account, which we have attached below:
Candidates challenge Rep. Bob Inglis’ controversial positions during debate
FOUNTAIN INN – Battling for re-election at a time when voters are angry with business as usual in Washington, U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis on Monday defended his voting record as reflecting the conservative values of the 4th Congressional District.
His four opponents in the June Republican primary referred to some of his more controversial positions without directly attacking him during a debate at the Fountain Inn Civic Center.
Inglis had earlier called for debate “early and often” in an unusual move that pundits said suggests he’s concerned about re-election and not taking anything for granted.
How much Monday night’s event helped the six-term incumbent, however, wasn’t clear.
An informal survey of attendees showed Spartanburg prosecutor Trey Gowdy the favorite and Inglis pulling up the rear. Of 139 people surveyed by civic center personnel, 43 said they’d vote for Gowdy, 37 for Mauldin businessman Jim Lee, 28 for state Sen. David Thomas of Fountain Inn, 21 for Spartanburg professor Christina Jeffrey and 10 for Inglis.
Inglis argued that voter anger gives Congress a rare opportunity to put the general interest over the special interest.
“That means we can perhaps seize the moment” to balance the budget and return to fiscal sanity, he said.
Thomas promised to be a “conservative leader” if elected who would never “resist the district.”
Pointing out that he served in the state senate with Republican Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina, Thomas turned to Inglis and said, “You know Joe Wilson, don’t you?”
It was an unspoken dig at Inglis’ vote in September to rebuke Wilson for shouting “You lie!” during a presidential address to Congress.
Gowdy promised to never travel to “exotic places” on the taxpayers’ dime – something he’s accused Inglis of doing – when constituents “can’t afford to go to Dollywood or Myrtle Beach.”
Gowdy also said he’s against any “energy tax” that would make the United States economy less competitive with China.
That was a veiled reference to an Inglis proposal to tax carbon emissions in exchange for an equivalent reduction in payroll taxes.
Gowdy said the country was at a crossroads, with “statism” one fork it could take and the “path to the American dream” the other fork.
Remarks by the candidates showed their understanding that running against the Washington establishment is good politics this year.
Lee, for example, declared that “Washington is broken” and that he was the least experienced in politics of anyone on stage. Both Republicans and Democrats are to blame for a federal government spinning out of control, he said.
Inglis pointed out that he’s not the only candidate who’s held political office for many years. Thomas has been in office more than 20 years, he said, and Gowdy for a decade.
There was also much the candidates agreed on.
They all identified themselves as conservative Christians, paid homage to Ronald Reagan and spoke well of the Tea Party movement.
Scott Huffmon, a political scientist at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, said Inglis’ call for debate was a pro-active move to get head of criticism, rather than sit back and assume that “name recognition and a war chest would scare off all comers.”
“Given the mood now incumbents should be nervous, and they should be pro-active, and I think you’ve seen that in the Fourth,” Huffmon said.
The debate was sponsored by the Fountain Inn Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club of Fountain Inn.
Myra Ruiz, a correspondent with WYFF-TV in Greenville, was moderator.
The 4th District candidates also debated last week on local conservative radio station WORD.
