Spencer's grass roots upset bid for U.S. Congressional seat in District 5 falls short

Dr. Albert Spencer wasn't having an election night gala.

Instead, he waited patiently inside his Gaffney home to hear how well his grass roots campaign worked against longtime incumbent U.S. Congressman John Spratt in the 5th Congressional District race.

On a cost per vote basis it actually worked out quite well. But in the grand scheme, Spencer, a professor of physical education and sports management at Limestone College, was still 0-2.

Spratt was re-elected to his 14th term in Congress on Tuesday based on unofficial election night returns.

The matchup between Spratt, a Democrat who has represented the district since 1982, and Spencer, a Republican, was a repeat of the 2004 Congressional race during which Spencer pulled in 37 percent of the vote.

Unofficial numbers as of late Tuesday night showed Spencer with similar numbers this year. He estimated his all-volunteer campaign cost less than $10,000.

While disheartened by a second loss, he wasn't crushed.

"Basically, we feel we did our best," he said. "They (the volunteers) went all-out and gave 100 percent. I couldn't be more proud of them."

Spencer said everyone in his campaign knew it was an uphill battle going against such a long-serving incumbent who could likely outspend them on a 100-to-1 basis.

"When you face those kinds of numbers, you realize you have to limit your newspaper ads. We couldn't do television. Everything was grass roots."

Spencer hopes, however, that his campaign had positive effects by getting people to talk about issues and getting people to realize average, middle-class people can run for office and make their voices heard.

While votes in the 14 counties included in the 5th Congressional District still were being tabulated late Tuesday, incomplete results showed Spratt with a commanding lead with 61.2 percent of the vote to Spencer's 37.4.