Most officials positive about Holland’s bid

Politics can be crazy.

Who can say what attracts voters to candidates?

But if wit and intelligence can win voters’ hearts, then Ken Holland has a good chance of becoming Gaffney’s first governor, a former candidate for the state’s top office said.

“In today’s age with (Ken’s) intelligence, wit and debating skills, I think he has a chance,” said Gaffney attorney Mike Daniel, who was beaten for governor by the late Carroll Campbell in 1986.

Rep. DeWitt McCraw (DGaffney) would like to see a Gaffney native reside in the governor’s mansion.

“Ken is a worker,” McCraw said. “I think he’s getting a late start, but I would naturally like to see somebody from Gaffney be governor. We’ve had two lieutenant governors.”

Cherokee County Council Chairman Hoke Parris thinks Holland has the necessary skills to become governor.

“I think he’d be a very good governor,” Parris said. “He’s very capable and he served the area very well as a congressman.”

“I was pleasantly surprised when I heard the news,” Gaffney Mayor Henry Jolly said. “It would be good to have a Gaffney boy as governor. I think he has an excellent chance of winning. He was a long-term congressman, a brilliant attorney and he’s been a longtime friend of mine.”

But Cherokee County Councilman Bailey Humphries a Republican believes Holland has an uphill battle.

“I think he’s going to have a tough go running on the Democrat ticket,” Humphries said.