The State from Columbia, South Carolina • 48

1- If i A Hit'S 2004 D4 SUNDAY JUNE 6 2004 THE PRIMARIES THE STATE COLUMBIA SOUTH CAROLINA fy HOUSE DISTRICT 87 late entiy lures contenders into fray By JOHN Staff Writer they would seek the seat of the current longest-serving member the SC House of Representa- Haley 32 has done a lot of door-to-door campaigning while Perry 42 has extensive contacts as chairman of the Greater Lexington Chamber of Commerce If none of the three candidates wins a majority vote in primary a runoff would be held June 22 Reach at (803) 771-8435 or johnoconnorthestatecom strange how this thing Perry said "Nikki and I had both gone too far to Growth in the district which stretches from Lake Murray to Lexington and along 1-20 to Gilbert could diminish incumbent advantage in "Qld Lexington" Koon said many of the new residents have never cast a vote for him to file for re-election He said the fiscal situation and prodding by House Speaker David Wilkins convinced him that his legislative experience was needed "Being the senior member of die House" Koon said "is it right to walk out when die state is facing such a deficit But by the time Koon said he would seek re-election two contenders already had announced Lariy Koon might have been able to win the GOP primary in Lexington House District 87 early All he had to do was say he was running Rumors that Koon would retire began to circulate last year Koon 60 said he did not make up his mind to run again until nearly March when it was time "He supposed to said Nikki Haley who along with David Perry is challenging Koon "I know if I would have gotten in if I knew he was Perry said he only entered die race because he thought Koon was retiring DAVID PERRY LARRY KOON NIKKI HALEY Candidate predicts runoff in tight race LEXINGTON PRECINCTS and their locations: AmicksFeny Amicta Fery Fre Station 960 Amicks Ferry Road Ban Road Lexington Presbyterian Church 246 Ban Road Batesburg Leisure Center 227 Midland Aw Beulah Church Beulah United Methodist Church 161 Beulah Church Road Boiling BoHing Springs United Methodist Church 2373 Calks Ferry Road Boiling Springs Boiling Springs Community Center 2641 Cata Ferry Rd Bush Cornerstone Presbyterian Church 5637 Bush River Road CayceNo American Legon Flail 407 Naples St CayceNo 2- Bustree Middle School 1407 Dunhar Road Cayce2A- Trinity Baptist Church 2003 Charleston Hwy Cayoe 3-Cayce United Methodst Church 1600 12th St Chalk HM- ShSoh United Methodist Church 546 Gardners Terrace Road Leaphart Elementaiy School 120 Plney Grow Road Chapin- Chapin Higi School 300 Columbia Aw Nursery Road Elementary School 6706 Nursery Road Ebenezer Youth Center 622 Colonial Driw Oak Grow Civic Center 585 Oak Driw Dutchman Shores Crossroads Fire Station 2720 Wessinger Road Claude A Taylor School 103 Ann Lane Edmund Oommisiity Center 5700 block SC 302 Emmanuel Church Emmanuel Lutheran Church 2491 Emmanuel Church Road Fakview- Fairview Fire Station No 14 2907 Fairview Road Faith Church Faith United Methodist Church 5151 Sunset Blvd Gardendafe Gatdendaie Swim Club 1019 Garden Valley Lane Gaston No Frances Mack Elementary School 161 Gaston St Gaston No Gaston CMc Center 131 Carlisle SL Gftert- Gilbert Town Hal 340 Hanp-tonSL Sewn Oaks Presbyterian Church 530 SL Andrews Road Hollow Creek Hollow Creek Community Center 2700 Block PriceviHe Road Hooks Brookland-Cayce Grammar School No 1 114 Hook Aw kmo Elementary School 7401 Giblrs SL Kitti Wake Kittiwake Baptist Church 420 Kitti Wake Drive Lake Murray Lake Murray Community Center 1000 block SL Peters Church Road Leaphart Road Pinewew Baptist Church 3010 Leaphart Road Leesvie-Old LeesviOe Elementary School 423 College SL Lexington No Saxe Gotha Presbyterian Church 5503 Sunset Blvd Lexington No 2 Lexington kitermeciate School 420 Hendrix SL Lexington No Leangton Middte School 702 Lake Dr Lexington No Lexington Baptist Church 308 Mam SL Mack Edisto Community Center 944 Mack Edisto Rd Midway Elementary School 180 Midway Rd Mims Samaria Baptist Chirch 7127 Two Notch Road Mount Horeb United Methodist Church 1205 Ok) Cherokee Road CrossRoads Middle School 6949 SL Andrews Road Old Bamwel Road- National Guard Armory 3258 Platt Springs Road Park Lexington Community Church 374 Park Road Felon Felon Church of the Nazarene 454 Pine SL Pilgrim Church Plgirn Lutheran Church 1430 Lake Driw Pine Ridge Pine Ridge Midde Schorl 735 Pine Ridge Driw Pineview Pineview Elementaiy School 3035 Leaphart Road Pond Branch Pond Branch Family Activities Center 1912 Pond Branch Road Providence Church Providence Lutheran Church 840 Ok) Chapin Road Quail Hollow- Van Lott Inc 3463 set Blvd Qua! St Andrews Presbyterian Church 6952 St Andrews Road Red Red Bank Elementary School 246 Community Driw Red Bank Saxe Gotha Elementary School 100 Bill Williams Court Rxige Road Ridge Road Community Center 1300 Block Ridge Road Round Round Community Center 2707 TWo Notch Road Saluda River Saluda River Elementary School 1520 Duke St Sandy Run Hotseneck Community Center 121 Bub Wise Driw Sewn kmo Higi School 6771 SL Andrews Road Sharpes HM Sharpes HM Community Center 2121 Sharpes Kill Road Spnngiale Springdale Elementary School 361 Wattling Road Springdale South New Covenant Church 3220 Platt Springs Road SL Michael SL Michael's Lutheran Church 400 River Road Summit Town Hal 321 Old Broad St Swansea Swansea Higi School gymnasium 500 1st St Columbia 1 Brooktand United Methodist Church 541 Meeting SL Cokimbia 2 Lakeview Education Center 1218 Bachelor SL Cokimbia 3 American Lagan Hut 762 Aw Columbia 4 George I Pair Elementary School 2325 Platt Springs Road Wcstowr Providence Presbyterian Church 1112 Hummmxrd Driw Write Knd White Knot Elementary School 132 White food Way Whitehall Sewn Oaks Parti 200 Leisure Lane Woodland HMs Sewn Oaks Demen-tarvchool 2AQ0 Ashland Road Lexington Chamber of Commerce If a runoff is needed between die two top finishers it would be held June 22 two weeks after the June 8 primary O'Connor Koon and Haley predict they will win enough votes to avoid a runoff but the differing campaign styles might splinter tte vote Koon is the longest-serving member of the SC House but he said his incumbent's advantage may be eroded by rapid growth Haley has been on the campaign trail meeting as many people as possible Perry is well-known through his insurance agency and the Greater David Perry who is challenging incumbent Larry Koon along with Nikki Haley The three are competing to represent the district in the central part of Lexington County One candidate running in District 87 thinks voters might have to head to the polls twice to elect their SC House representative "If I was a gambling man I would bet highly on a runoff' said KEY LEXINGTON RACES 2: Clerk of Court Three-term incumbent Tom Comerford and newcomer Beth Carrigg are facing off in an election that has raised questions about both candidates Comerford has drawn criticism for bank foes charged on the child support accounts problems he said have been corrected Comerford said he has upgraded operations collected more payments for needy families and saved the county money Carrigg is the wife of county Councilman John Carrigg a lawyer raising conflict-of-interest questions Carrigg said state law says she has no conflict adding it is unlikely she will have direct contact with her court proceedings Carrigg has promised to speed up the modernization of foe office including posting a live docket online and allowing payment by credit card over the Internet There is no Democrat contender for the seat JAKE KNOTTS KENNY BINGHAM DANNY FRAZIER ASHLEY CANNON DEBBIE SUMMERS TED PITTS DAVID SPENCE SHIRLEY SONS 3: Others 1: House 69 In the County Council District 4 Republican primary Danny Frazier and Debbie Summers are running for an open seat In the state Senate District 23 GOP primary incumbent Jake Knotts faces a challenge from Shirley Sons In foe House District 89 GOP primary incumbent Rep Kenny Bingham faces challenger Ashley Cret Two years after pulling an upset to oust a veteran incumbent state Rep Ted Pitts faces a challenge from David Spence son of late long-time US Rep Floyd Spence Spence has a familiar name and face he often showed up in support of his father at political events Spence said he hopes to follow his example of constituent service In two years Pitts has developed a reputation as someone willing to challenge House leaders on issues Pitts said property taxes and traffic are the district's two biggest concerns There is no Democratic challenger for the in each race foe winner is unopposed in John TOM COMERFORD BETH CARRIGG Sales tax vote key in Lexington County Recreation District also will face a November question about whether or not to approve a property tax increase to pay for a $195-mil-lion-facility that includes water and skate parks an indoor pool and a theater legislative delegation only agreed this year Two ballot questions in the Lexington 1 school district to raise a total of $118 million for new facilities are in part powering foe push for a local sales tax That Lexington 1 ballot ques timates the 20 percent increase would raise $26 million a year which would offset property taxes that now pay for school construction and debt Lexington school districts have campaigned for three years to have the penny-a-dollar sales tax pption but the county's tion will be a separate issue on the November ballot and could pass even if the sales tax fails If both are adopted the school district said money from the sales tax would cover the cost of new construction Voters in the Irmo ffoapin Lexington County citizens will have only one local race to vote on in November sheriff But a few ballot questions should have folks politicking The biggest is a county wide referendum to add a penny to the sales tax The county es.