Republicans in the Fourth Congressional District have chosen William Timmons to be their candidate in the November 2018 General Election. Timmons defeated strongly conservative Lee Bright in the Republican Primary. Timmons appears to be an establishment Republican and a supporter of Senator Lindsey Graham. He is not popular among traditional conservative groups. Timmons replaced State Senator Mike Fair in the Senate but has served only part of one term in Columbia.
Because of the bitter battle between State Senator Timmons and former State Senator Bright, it is likely that there will not be a strong turnout of conservative General Election voters for Timmons. He will have to work very hard to overcome his lack of support in the conservative community among Lee Bright supporters who are not quick to forget. This could spell trouble for Republicans because the Democrats have a candidate that on some issues may be more conservative than Timmons. He is not a typical liberal Democrat; however, he could change, but is not likely to do so.
I have known Brandon Brown and his family since Brandon was a student at Blue Ridge High School. His parents and grandparents are prominent citizens in Northern Greenville County. The Democrats will likely put a maximum effort into supporting the election of Brown and Republicans may be less enthused about supporting Timmons. Should that happen, the result could be disastrous for Republicans.
The Fourth Congressional District seat was held by Democrats until Bob Inglis defeated Liz Patterson. Everyone liked Patterson, but they did not know that she was supporting the Communists in Nicaragua. This writer was heavily involved in urging Inglis to challenge Patterson and getting the pro-life supporters to back his candidacy.
Inglis promised to limit his terms and did so, but after an unsuccessful run for the United States Senate, he went back to his old Fourth Congressional District seat.
Something happened during that term in Washington and Inglis lost touch with the people in his district.
Timmons needs to learn from the Inglis example and get to know his constituents and represent their views. He should not become complacent. A primary win does not always mean a win in the General Assembly.
