District 111 candidates differ in style

A three-way race to fill the seat created by Rep. Floyd Breeland's retirement pits two political veterans who have served at least two terms on Charleston City Council, against a young Iraqi war veteran who currently works for one of the biggest political veterans in the state.

Charleston City Councilman Wendell Gilliard, former City Councilman Maurice Washington and newcomer Clay Middleton all emphasize the need to improve public education, but their backgrounds differ, as do some of their other priorities.

Gilliard, 53, said he talked to Breeland years ago about running for the District 111 seat whenever Breeland stepped down.

Gilliard said if elected, he would work with fellow lawmakers on a stimulus plan that would improve living and working conditions, health care, education and wages.

Middleton, 26, is making his first bid for public office, but he's no stranger to politics, working as the Lowcountry coordinator for U.S. Rep. and House Majority Whip James Clyburn.

He has worked for Clyburn since 2003, except for a year in which his job with the U.S. Army National Guard took him to Iraq. While that wasn't political experience, it was experience nevertheless.

When Washington, 47, was a City Councilman, he sponsored a proclamation for Middleton, who was a Burke High School student at the time.

But as he campaigns for office, Washington is more likely to talk about his council work to ensure ditches were cleaned out, that diverse-income housing was on the city's agenda, and that Maryville and Ashleyville annexed into the city.

If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote on June 10, the top two will face off in a June 24 runoff. That likely will determine who wins the seat because no Republican has filed.

Read more this weekend in the Post and Courier.