Democrats throw punches in SC governor debate. On the issues, they are more united

The three Democrats who want to be South Carolina's next governor took swings at each other Thursday night. They said their opponents were inexperienced or part of a corrupt system or misrepresenting their records. They are State House insiders or friends of special interest or naive.

But when it came to the issues that will affect South Carolinians after November, the trio expressed a lot more unity — whether the question was asked of Charleston technology consultant Phil Noble, state Rep. James Smith of Columbia or Florence attorney Marguerite Willis.

All three said they want to expand Medicaid in South Carolina. They oppose spending public education dollars on private schools, want to increase funding of public schools and oppose private-school vouchers. They even agreed they dislike the new NFL policy restricting on-field protests by football players.

But there were fireworks when the candidates turned on each other.

Noble went after primary front-runner Smith for the S.C. House member's past high approval ratings from the National Rifle Association — a frequent line of attack for his campaign — as well as criticizing Smith's support for a 2014 act that expanded where gun owners could carry their weapons.

"Reality is, year after year, you stood with the NRA, supporting legislation that threatens the life of our children," Noble said. "I want to ask why he voted to take guns into bars and restaurants."

Smith responded by arguing he has been endorsed by groups that advocate gun control — Moms Demand Action and Our Revolution. The Columbia Democrat said Democrats worked to improve the guns-in-restaurants bill before it passed the GOP-majority House and his past NRA ratings were related to votes that affected gun ranges, rather than public safety.

After the debate, the Afghanistan war veteran said he was a proud gun owner but had taken "common-sense" positions, opposing the open carrying of weapons and lowering standards for concealed weapons permits.

"You sound like a broken record. No one believes you," Smith said to Noble, adding the gun lobby "has never offered me a dime and I've never excepted any."

Willis also aimed her fire at Smith.

When Smith said he wanted to see a consumer advocate created to argue for utility customers in the wake of the collapse of the V.C. Summer nuclear plant, underwritten by SCANA and Santee Cooper, Willis accused Smith of voting against a similar position in 2004.

"The horse is way out of the barn now," Willis said.

For his part, Noble said he would fire the board of the state-owned Santee Cooper utility over the nuclear debacle and also wants to force out the board of the privately owned SCANA, too. (That board would cease to exist if Dominion Energy succeeds in its buyout of SCANA.)

"Somebody ought to go to jail," Noble said.

Willis said Smith, as a member of the Legislature, had failed to improve the state's education system. Thanks to her advocacy for an equal pay law in South Carolina, she added, "Mr. Smith finally introduced that bill when I announced I was running for governor."

Smith retorted that he had worked on similar equal-pay legislation with fellow Democrats for years. As to school funding, he told Willis, "It’s either naive or dishonest to not understand the Legislature is under the control of the other party."

Noble came out swinging at Willis as well, hoping to differentiate himself from the other outsider candidate in the race. From his opening statement, Noble said his two opponents were a "big-time corporate lawyer and career politician at the State House." Afterward, he said both his opponents are "products of the same State House system."

Defending his time in the State House, Smith took what might be one of the toughest swipes a candidate can take in a Democratic primary — comparing his opponents to Republican President Donald Trump.

"We’ve seen what a lack of experience does in (president) No. 45 in the White House," Smith said.

This story was originally published May 24, 2018 at 9:48 PM with the headline "Democrats throw punches in SC governor debate. On the issues, they are more united."