Meet the candidates for open Lexington County SC House District 85
One of the fastest growing areas of the Midlands this year will elect a new member to represent them in the S.C. House of Representatives, and the most likely winner will be decided in the primary, whether that’s next Tuesday or in a runoff between the top two candidates in a June 28 runoff.
Four Republicans are running in the June 14 primary for the seat currently held by Rep. Chip Huggins, a fellow Republican, who is not seeking re-election.
Two current members of the Lexington-Richland 5 school board are running for the same seat. Rebecca Blackburn Hines and Catherine Huddle are both running to replace Huggins, along with restaurant owner Jay Kilmartin and Columbia lawyer Christian Stegmaier.
The district covers the Chapin area and wraps around the shores of Lake Murray to the Irmo area between the Saluda River and Interstate 26. The area has seen a heavy amount of suburban growth and development in recent years from people moving to be closer to the lake or seeking homes and quality schools in bedroom communities outside Columbia.
If none of the four candidates win a majority on Tuesday, the top-two vote-getters will face off in a runoff two weeks later on June 28. The Republican nominee will face Libertarian John Davis in November’s election.
Rebecca Blackburn Hines
Age: 39
Education: Bachelor of Art in Mass Media Communications, College of Charleston; Juris Doctor, Charleston School of Law
Occupation: Program management for small business & economic development
Prior political experience: Board trustee for School District 5 of Lexington and Richland Counties since 2020.
What is the biggest issue facing District 85? And what would you do to solve it?
While I believe the biggest long-term issue facing our district and state is restoring faith in our electoral process, I believe the most immediate issue is rising inflation and economic insecurity. District 85 small businesses are hurting as consumers struggle with inflation and rising gas prices. Given that the South Carolina Senate is considering a $1B rebate to taxpayers, I would advocate that we immediately suspend the gas tax and put more money back in the pockets of South Carolinians. While this may be a short term fix, it is a fix that helps middle-class families right now, when every penny matters.
What should the Legislature do to address gun violence in South Carolina?
The only way to address gun violence with legislation is to draft laws that don’t limit the rights of law-abiding citizens to protect themselves while allowing armed criminals to freely roam without fear. We need to eliminate “gun-free zones,” which leave citizens exposed in public areas without the ability to legally protect themselves in situations where criminals ignore the rules and jeopardize the safety of the community. In our schools, we need to focus on safety measures that are not just talking points. For example, there is a renewed interest to install metal detectors, single points of entrance and school resource officers in every school. While these tactics may be a small deterrent, the reality is that they are reliant on manpower to be effective. Relying on existing school staff for additional security measures, who already have increased responsibility, is a dangerous precedent. And, while districts have funding for SROs, the local law enforcement agencies already have staffing issues and have been unable to provide SROs to every school. An alternative to these measures is to pass legislation that allows school districts to hire trained agents for every school. These “trained agents” would be retired veterans who are qualified to be armed and have specialized experience in handling potential threats in real life situations. In addition, by changing the retirement limitations on a $10k cap for police officers, retired law enforcement could also be trained agents in our schools – without placing additional burdens on the local law enforcement agencies.
Catherine Huddle
Age: 59
Education: BS Financial Management
Occupation: Chief Marketing Officer for a Health Technology Company
Prior political experience: School Board since 2020
What is the biggest issue facing District 85? And what would you do to solve it?
Roads and Infrastructure are the biggest immediate local issue affecting the Irmo and Chapin areas. Roads and bridges are in poor condition and overly congested in many areas.
Roads in SC are funded from three sources: the gas tax (the only source for local road maintenance), federal matching funds and the SC State Infrastructure Bank (SCIB).
Our gas tax, at $0.26 is below the national average and well below our neighboring states of North Carolina ($0.385) and Georgia ($0.291, which have much higher rates. While suspending or ending the gas tax is a great political soundbite, we would be cutting off our nose to spite our face while we watch tourists from these states and Ohio ($0.47) gas up in our state and use our roads this summer on their trips to our coast, all the while giving up our only current source of maintaining our roads and losing federal funding. A better solution is to use these funds more effectively, ensure that hybrid and electric vehicles are paying their fair share and fix the SCIB, which is a highly political organization and subject of a 2016 scathing audit — which the legislature has yet to address.
As your House representative, I will lead the effort to fix SCIB, ensure our funding is properly set up for hybrid and electric vehicles and work with our county on planning to coordinate zoning and building with our roads and other infrastructure.
What should the Legislature do to address gun violence in South Carolina?
I believe strongly in our constitutional right to bear arms under the Second Amendment. Statistically, the majority non-suicide gun violence in SC is committed by people under 24 years of age.
The way to decrease ALL violence in South Carolina is through prevention and proper sentencing. Public education needs to be financed and schools should be held accountable to ensure that all children without disabilities can read by the third grade. That is the single biggest predictor of high school graduation — which is the single biggest hope for a life outside of crime. The legislature needs to pass bail reform to ensure that violent criminals are not released into society, and we need to pass judicial reform to put the best judges on the bench.
Jay Kilmartin
Age: 56
Education: BA in Public Communications, the University of South Florida
Occupation: Small business owner, the Melting Pot and the Cigar Militia.
Prior political experience: None
What is the biggest issue facing District 85? And what would you do to solve it?
We need to fight against the “woke” progressives as a state. We need conservative Republicans who do not waver in their conservative values while representing “We the people” in the State House.
What should the Legislature do to address gun violence in South Carolina?
I would advocate to protect our children more diligently than we do our politicians, federal government buildings and financial institutions. “No Guns Allowed” signs are an insult to common sense.
Christian Stegmaier
Age: 49
Education: BA in Political Science, University of South Carolina; MPH, Public Health Administration, University of South Carolina; JD, University of South Carolina
Occupation: Businessman and attorney, Collins and Lacy
Prior political experience: None
What is the biggest issue facing District 85? And what would you do to solve it?
The #1 reason I chose to get into this race is infrastructure. Irmo and Chapin are growing by leaps and bounds. We need to ensure we have a quality infrastructure in place to keep up with the demands of our expanding communities. This means fixing our outdated and overcrowded roads like Highways 6, 76, and 176 and making sure our communities have access to reliable and cost-efficient water and sewer. These are issues that have been ignored for far too long.
What should the Legislature do to address gun violence in South Carolina?
There’s no question we need to take mental health seriously and do a better job of helping root out the causes of crime and violence. As we recently saw in the horrific shootout at the Columbiana Mall, which is a “gun free zone,” more gun control will not prevent crime — it will only keep guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens. We must hold prosecutors and judges accountable for “catch and release” practices, and send a clear message that if you are put in jail for gun crimes, you stay in jail for gun crimes. So many of the perpetrators of recent gun violence are criminals with records. I’m committed to holding to account the criminals and those in the justice system who put them back on the streets.
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