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Oconee County Democratic Party chair Paulette Keffas-Chassin encourages the party faithful to work for Democratic candidates in the 2018 elections at a meeting at South Cove Park on Sunday. Norm Cannada | The Journal
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SENECA — Oconee County Democratic leaders called for a “blue tsunami” in 2018 and encouraged the party faithful to work for Democratic candidates in hopes of turning the state from a “red” Republican state to a “blue” Democratic state.
About 180 people attended the annual Democratic Party event Sunday night at South Cove Park. They heard from seven candidates, including two running for governor, two vying for Congress and three local candidates.
Paulette Keffas-Chassin, chair of the county Democratic Party, said she is seeing the local party gaining strength with more candidates and enthusiasm, though she added more effort is needed in order to make the goal a reality.
“The blue tsunami is a great phenomenon, and that could happen in this county, in this state and in this country, but it’s not a magical thing,” Keffas-Chassin said. “The only way we will take Congress back and the Columbia legislature and this state and this county is by the work of everybody in this room.”
The Democrats heard from Phil Noble and James Smith, two of the three candidates vying for the party’s nomination for governor in next week’s primary election.
Noble called for “doubling” the salaries of public school teachers. “If you’re going to try to do something big and bold and significant in education, you’ve got to first deal with the teachers,” he said. “What we pay our teachers now is just atrocious,” he added. “We have about 6,000 or 7,000 teachers that just leave, just never come back.” He called Smith a “career politician who has spent his life in the legislature.” He also criticized his opponent in the room, saying Smith has been endorsed three times by the National Rifle Association.
Smith responded by saying the Democratic Party is the “party of ideas, not personal attacks.” Smith said he did have “positive scores” from the NRA years ago. He said the scores “had nothing to do with gun safety.” “I’m not concerned about what they think,” he said. “The fact is these scores had to do with things like hunting issues — I’ve been a hunter my whole life. They don’t have anything to do with gun safety.”
Seneca businessman Hosea Cleveland and Anderson educator Mary Geren said they have tried to show one another respect in their race for the Third District Congressional seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan. Both were critical of Duncan and said they wanted to see him defeated. Cleveland called for more efforts to improve and invest in renewable energy and pointed to the fleet of electric buses that are in Seneca as part of the Clemson Area Transit system. He said a congressman could bring more money back to the district to provide funding for more efforts in renewable energy. He said he also supported bringing more new jobs to the area. “We need to invest in the right kind of jobs so folks can make a decent living,” Cleveland said.
Geren, who taught English at Tri-County Technical College before leaving her job to make a run for Congress, said she grew up in poverty in Northeast Georgia and was able to get out of poverty through the encouragement and help of public school administrators and teachers. “I am running for Congress because I believe in public education more than anything; it saved my life,” Geren said. “We are fighting for the American dream, and I have been blessed to live it. That is a real dream, but it is slipping away.”
Jody Gaulin, who is challenging Republican State Rep. Bill Sandifer in the general election, said “competition is good — it keeps everyone honest.”
If elected to the State House of Representatives, Gaulin said she would work for “equal pay for equal work.” “I feel like I do have a good feel for what is going on in Oconee County,” she said. “I’ve been exposed to those who are chronically under- or unemployed, and that is a hard nut to crack, and it’s a hard problem to solve. I feel like I have some degree of understanding of those issues.” Other priorities for Gaulin would be improving public safety, public education, workforce preparedness, maintaining and improving infrastructure, affordable higher education and expanded access to health care. “All of these are critical to a thriving economy, strong families and livable communities,” she said.
Bill Bruehl, who is running for Oconee County Council District 1 in November, said government leaders need to “collaborate if you want to produce.”
“I believe that the fundamental problem we face here, whether it’s locally or nationally, is polarization,” Bruehl said. He called for leaders to talk and listen with “respect” and work together.
Sandra Sloan, who plans to run for the Oconee County School Board, said she wants to work to improve education.
“Our district is doing a good job, but there is always room for improvement,” said Sloan, a former teacher. “We must never forget that the children are our future, who will serve in various capacities as we age. Therefore we must ensure that they have the education to adequately perform the lower skills as well as the highly technological jobs in the workforce in a most rigorous manner.” She also called for more diversity in school staff. “Everyone needs to see someone that looks like them,” she said.
ncannada@upstatetoday.com | (864) 973-6680
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Posted on June 5, 2018
By Norm Cannada
The Journal, Seneca, SC
