A VOTE 2010 REVIEW: Candidates for Gov.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO)  – ABC Columbia News spoke one-on-one with the candidates for governor as the campaign draws to an end.
 
Last-minute campaigning means bus tours and football games, shaking hands and visiting hometowns. Sen. Vincent Sheheen, a Democrat, says, “I think trust is the most important issue this year.” Rep. Nikki Haley, a Republican, says, “You can go with a fiscal conservative who knows it’s about businesses and jobs.”

Haley and Sheheen have staked their positions on a number of different issues affecting South Carolinians. Haley says, “We’ve got to change the tax structure, make sure we recruit industry. We’ve got to strengthen our technical colleges.” Haley’s plan to bring jobs to the state, which has 11 percent unemployment, is to eliminate the corporate income tax. Sheheen says that would only be good for big business, making small companies less competitive. Instead, he favors a more hands-on approach to economic development. Sheheen says, “The governor for this state is the top economic recruiter for this state, and it’s time the governor acted like that again.”

Sheheen says four-year old kindergarten is essential for education in the state in the long-run. But since there’s no money to do that now, he says the state needs to just stay above water. Sheheen says, “I think in the near-term the goal in public education has to be just trying to maintain what we have, trying not to layoff more teachers, trying to keep class sizes from growing.”

Haley says the funding formula for education needs to be changed. She says, “There is too much administration at the Department of Education. It’s too top heavy. If the dollars aren’t going to the school, no one wins.”

Haley is trying to distance herself from fellow republican Governor Mark Sanford, whose eight years in office were characterized by his inability to cooperate with lawmakers. She shies away from Sanford-talk with a quick answer. Haley says, “This is not about what you say. It’s about what you do. I want the people of South Carolina to feel real results the very first year, and I’m going to make that happen.”

Sheheen is trying to disconnect from President Obama and an unpopular health care plan. Sheheen says he does not believe in health care mandates, but thinks children with pre-existing conditions should be covered under insurance. Haley says you cannot do both. Sheheen disagrees, saying, “It’s narrow-minded to say because these things are bad, that we shouldn’t allow children to be covered on insurance policies, when they have pre-existing conditions.”

And there’s one more candidate on the ballot. Green party and United Citizens nominee Morgan Reeves is frustrated about being left out of debates. When ABC Columbia News offered him an interview, he did not talk about his platform, but about being excluded. Reeves says, “This is a big conspiracy in South Carolina. That’s why I’m writing a book about it, and I’m bringing a lawsuit.”