Crawford, Wingard vie for S.C. House 63 seat

Kris Crawford, the Republican incumbent representing S.C. House District 63 in Florence County, will face Democrat Barry Wingard this November.

While the candidates want to solve the state’s budget troubles and improve education, they differ on issues including vouchers for school choice.

Crawford said some of his biggest accomplishments have been helping end the state grocery tax and working to perfect a bill to protect state residents from identity theft.

Crawford, a physician, also said he used his expertise on a prompt-pay bill for health care providers when South Carolina was the last state in the nation to lack such a law.

“My role was significant enough that the governor gave me the pen,” Crawford said of the bill.

Wingard, a retired U.S. Army colonel, said he aims to improve how veterans are treated. He said he would like the state to have a system — similar to juvenile drug court — to help veterans charged with nonviolent crimes solve their problems and avoid a criminal record. The state also should step up, he said, to get federal funds to maintain National Guard Armories.

“I have common sense, and I want to do the right thing,” Wingard said. “I know some people look at compromise as both sides losing; I look at compromise as both sides winning.”

Crawford said that while dealing with its budget shortfall, the state needs to cut the Competitive Grants Program, which funds several festivals throughout the state. He also said state agencies should curb advertising and stop sending lobbyists to the Statehouse.

“I don’t want to see a billboard that says how great the (Department of Natural Resources) is when we’re cutting the budget for their enforcement services,” he said.

Crawford also said lawmakers must ensure agencies aren’t compensating for budget cuts by raising fines and penalties.

Wingard said lawmakers should be required to commit to “yea” or “nay” votes, which would let taxpayers know how their dollars are being spent.

Wingard said the state must improve its public education system to help cut unemployment and crime rates. He said he opposes private school vouchers but thinks public school choice should be studied further.

“If you send your child to private school, you should not ask your neighbor to pay for it,” he said.

Crawford said he’s supported bills that were intended to “hold harmless” and protect public schools by ensuring a school loses no funding if a student’s family receives a tax credit to attend private school. He said he favored a bill that originally called for the money to “follow” a student who switches from one public school to another.

Wingard also said Crawford has received money from New York libertarian Howard Rich, who has been involved in such issues as school choice vouchers. Crawford said he has received no such donations this election cycle.

If re-elected, Crawford said he plans to re-file such bills as Jerry’s Law, written after the slaying of 75-year-old Jerry Scott in her Florence home.

“In the same way that we’ve sent a message that it’s not OK to target children, we have to send a message that it’s not OK to target the elderly,” he said.

Name: Kris Crawford

Age: 38

Hometown: Anderson, Ind.

Family: Wife, Rebecca Crawford; four children

Party: Republican

Education: Bachelor’s from The Citadel; M.D. from the Medical University of South Carolina

Experience: S.C. House, 2007-present

Name: Barry Wingard

Age: 61

Hometown: Florence

Family: Wife, Carrington Wingard; three adult children

Party: Democrat