Limehouse joins 1st District race

State Rep. Chip Limehouse, R-Charleston, is the latest to enter the race for the 1st Congressional District seat.

Limehouse, co-owner of hotels and a real estate management company, has been in the S.C. House since 1995 and is vice chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, which writes the state budget each year.

“I’ve been there 18 years, and we’ve had 18 balanced budgets,” said Limehouse. “We didn’t raise taxes. We didn’t print money. We cut state government. That’s the fix we need in Washington, too.”

Limehouse said he plans to make passage of a balance budget amendment — similar to the law that requires South Carolina to balance its budget each year — a top priority if elected.

Limehouse’s father, Buck, is the state’s former transportation commissioner and ran, unsuccessfully, for the congressional seat in 2000.

More contenders are expected to join an already-packed GOP field.

But Limehouse said his legislative experience sets him apart. As outgoing chairman of the Charleston County Aviation Authority, he recently helped negotiate a sale of authority-owned land to plane-making giant Boeing, expanding the company’s footprint to more than 1,000 acres. “It’ll bring thousands of jobs to our region,” Limehouse said.

S.C. political consultant Chip Felkel, who helped Buck Limehouse with his congressional run, thinks Chip Limehouse’s odds are good. “In a crowded filed like this, you’re looking for someone who has the name ID and can raise money,” Felkel said. “He’s proven he can do both.”

Gina Smith, The (Hilton Head) Island Packet

GOP executive director joins Scott’s staff

The S.C. Republican Party announced leadership changes Thursday, the result of Tim Scott’s elevation to the U.S. Senate.

Scott, who succeeded Jim DeMint after the Greenville Republican stepped down to lead the Heritage Foundation, has named state GOP executive director Matt Moore as his state director, the party said in a news release.

Party chairman Chad Connelly, who praised the choice, said Moore would begin his new job next week. Connelly said current state party political director Alex Stroman will become executive director and will, in turn, be succeeded by party member services director Hope Walker.

“Sen. Tim Scott has made an outstanding choice in Matt Moore as state director,” Connelly said. “Our party is undoubtedly stronger due to Matt’s steady guidance.”

Moore said he was “sincerely blessed” by the new opportunity.

Kelly Davis