Former magistrate enters race for House seat

A former Cherokee County chief magistrate and Chief of Staff to State Sen. Harvey Peeler is the latest to officially announce his intention to fill the term of late State House member Olin Phillips.

In a prepared statement, Republican Scott Ramsey, who currently works for the South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind, said he will run as a true reformer.

"We hear a lot of folks talking about change and reform, but we have continued receiving status quo treatment," Ramsey said. "An economic crisis has led to the highest unemployment rates in the nation. Many families are living without quality health care and our education system continues to rank among the lowest in the nation. It's time to move past these problems and work as hard as possible for real reform."

Ramsey added, "Solutions won't come from big government and more of the same. True reform will come from common sense conservative solutions that lower taxes and gets government out of the way."

Ramsey said, if elected, he will make job creation his top priority by "capping state spending growth so that politicians quit wasting our hard-earned tax dollars, reducing taxes on individuals and businesses to grow South Carolina's economic base, reforming South Carolina's outdated and job-killing tax code and by stopping the petty political bickering and working together to recruit high-paying employers that will create good jobs for the folks in Cherokee County."

Ramsey joins Bobby Beattie, Libby Swad and a pair of Cherokee County Council District councilmen — Tim Spencer and Bailey Humphries — in the race.

Spencer is the lone Democrat on the list.

Phillips, 74, died Saturday, Dec. 27, of a heart attack.

The 10-day filing period will open Jan. 16. The primary is scheduled for March 10. The general election will take place April 28.

WHO'S RUNNING

Here are the names of the persons who've said they intend to seek the S.C. District 30 House seat: Bobby Beattie Bailey Humphries Scott Ramsey Tim Spencer Libby Swad