Dist. 115 rivals spar over gifts

Republican incumbent state Rep. Wallace Scarborough and Democratic challenger Anne Peterson Hutto are sparring over $7,000 Scarborough's campaign received from New York real estate investor and school choice advocate Howard Rich.

Scarborough has received at least seven separate $1,000 donations from Rich's groups that had the same 73 Spring St. address in New York.

"This is just another example of bad judgment by Wallace Scarborough," Hutto said. "People on James Island and Folly Beach don't want their representative making deals with characters like Howard Rich that would hurt our public and charter schools."

Scarborough said these are the same groups that support Gov. Mark Sanford, whom he also supports. "They have the same kind of philosophy as the governor. Because I've supported them, they've given me money," he said. "She's gotten a ton of money from trial lawyers. ... That's because they agree with her philosophy."

Both have raised almost $100,000 for their District 115 contest, one of the Lowcountry's most hotly contested state House races. The district includes most of James Island and Folly Beach.

Scarborough has almost three times as much cash on hand, $65,239 versus $19,021 for Hutto, heading into the home stretch. The scrutiny about Scarborough's donations from Rich comes as a new Web site — fighthowardrich.org — aims to draw new public scrutiny to Rich's agenda and how much he has given to South Carolina candidates.

Though the Web site was created by the South Carolina New Democrats, its figures show Lowcountry Democrats have been as willing to accept Rich's largesse as Republicans. Democratic candidates Wendell Gilliard and incumbent state Sen. Robert Ford have received $5,000 and $8,000, respectively, while state Rep. Heyward Hutson, who lost his District 94 primary battle, accepted $7,000, according to the Web site. It does not list the amount given to Scarborough, whose donations turned up on a State Ethics Commission filing earlier this week.

The Web site calls Rich "an extremely wealthy New York real estate developer and libertarian political activist" trying to convince the South Carolina Legislature to divert public money to private schools through school vouchers and tax credits, an idea that Sanford also has championed.

New Democrats president Phil Noble, a Charleston businessman, said, "What Rich is doing is just plain wrong and we want to fight him by exposing him and the South Carolina politicians that take his 'shady money.' Rich's education voucher scheme is nothing less than a radical social experiment that endangers our children by undermining our education system."

Hutto vowed to "fight for our public and charter schools, and I'll put people over special interests groups."

Scarborough said that while he supports school choice, he is not for vouchers. "There's been no larger advocate for the charter school system than Wallace Scarborough," he said. "When Democrats tried to defeat and kills James Island Charter High School, I stood up on the House floor and defeated the Democrats."

Reach Robert Behre at 937-5771 or at rbehre@postandcourier.com.