Parker vs. Davenport: Riveting Race in S.C.

If you like politics, they don't get any better than the race that is underway in South Carolina between the incumbent, state Representative Ralph Davenport (R-House District 37) and challenger Steve Parker.

Parker, a Republican, lost to Davenport by only 9 votes in the last election. He believes that this time there will be a much different outcome.

Davenport has riled much of his conservative GOP base in Spartanburg County by proposing a massive school district consolidation plan that would reduce the number of districts in the county from 7 to 4. Voters were incensed.

Sensing the rage of the electorate within the House District, Steve Parker embarked upon a campaign to stop the consolidation plan. Under Parker's leadership a series of townhall meetings were held all over Spartanburg County which drew hundreds of angry citizens demanding that there be no change in the current number of school districts.

The group did research that not only shows that consolidated school districts do nothing to save taxpayers' money, despite the claims of consolidation supporters, but that the larger consolidated mammoths spend much more money on administrative costs than smaller districts.

According to Davenport, consolidation saves millions of dollars, a notion supported by Governor Mark Sanford.

But supporters of consolidation have failed to produce the research and the figures that support such claims. The voters know all too well that large organizations tend to become money-sucking vacuum cleaners where wasteful spending is the order of the day. And they point to nearby Greenville County to prove it.

Greenville County consolidated its various districts into one some years ago, resulting in higher costs to the taxpayers. In fact, not a single instance of school district consolidation in South Carolina has resulted in lower costs. Instead, administrative costs have soared.

Thus, concerned taxpayers turned to Steve Parker in an all-out effort to beat Davenport, who is viewed as out of touch with his district. Parker agreed to run against Davenport for the GOP nomination.

Davenport has defended himself by claiming that one way or another school district consolidation is going to happen in Spartanburg County no matter what the voters want, and that his proposal to reduce the number of districts in the county from 7 to 4 was intended to thwart the plan of the state legislature to consolidate all of Spartanburg County into one mammoth school district.

Yet Davenport withdrew his proposal only a few weeks after rolling it out. If his concern was to protect Spartanburg County from a large monolithic district, then why withdraw the very proposal he claims was intended to thwart it?

In addition, back when Davenport first mentioned the proposal he said absolutely nothing concerning a legislative plan to reduce Spartanburg's school districts from 7 to 1. Why mention it now if not then?

Were the Governor and the legislature holding back a secret plan to unleash on the citizens of Spartanburg County when they least expect it?

As you can imagine this political race is intense and one of the more riveting ones in South Carolina during this election cycle. As far as we can tell, Parker has a very good chance at beating Davenport this time around.

As a former public school teacher in S.C. House District 37, Parker knows from experience that smaller school districts are more accountable, streamlined, and accessible to parents. He has a passion about this issue that arises out of his own personal experience.

And since the voters within the District are also very passionate about the issue, Parker may well be the man whose time has come.