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Wednesday, December 11, 2024 - 11:49 AM

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

First Published in 1994

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF
UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

PLEASE NOTE—IMPORTANT DETAIL: do not take this flier to the polls. By law, you may take only a list of names and offices to the polling site.

• For candidates already in an office, I have been able to check voting records. My comments reflect their voting records over the course of their tenure.
• For those who have never run for office before, and who claim a position, I will state their claim, but understand I have nothing by which to verify that claim.
• Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. A photo ID is required to vote in South Carolina. 

This year for the runoff there is one candidate in the GOP runoff who is activelyseeking and encouraging Democrats to come over and Vote in the GOP run off.So, for those of you who want real republicans to win,you need to show up and vote in the election on the 28th.

 

SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATIONEllen Weaver​​​http://www.ellenforeducation.comGraduated from BJU, then went to work for then-Congressman Jim DeMint. Has been a leader in the school-choice movement in SC for 10 years, evidenced by the fact that those who have competing views of school choice have personally sued her and many other school choice advocates. The current head of the new Greenville GOP has brought these suits. She was against the mask and vaccine mandates for school. A strong advocate for parental rights. Has strong Pro-Lifeviews.Believes the state superintendent should be an advocate for parental rights, student learning of critical thinking in core areas, allowing teachers to exercise authority within the classroomand to protect SC students and teachers from federal overreach and the forced imposition of world politics, CRT, transgenderism, vaccine mandates, and progressive politics.There have been several debates or interviews that have happenedduring the election, she has shown to be very knowledgeableon key issues, and on the damage of the woke agenda and critical(CRT and others)theoriesthat the left has been pushinginto the school systems.  Key issues from her website includefor students:1) Laser-focus on literacy and math skills to get all students on track for success2)Unleash access to high-quality education options for every student3)Advocate for children with special needsfor parents1) Defend parents’ right to direct their child’s education.2) Protect children frompolitical indoctrination in every form,3) Reject COVID mask & vaccine mandates in schools.Major endorsements include Sen.DeMint, Sen. Tim Scott, Russell Fry, Dr. Ben Carson, Rep. Jeff Duncan, Dr. Mick Zais (former GOP Sup. OEd.)SC Sen. Josh Kimbrell, SC Sen. Dwight Loftis, SC Sen. Danny Verdin, SC Sen. Scott Talley, SC Rep. Bobby Cox, SC Rep. Josiah Magnuson, SC Rep. Garry Smith, SC Rep. Adam Morgan, SC Rep. Patrick Haddon, SC Rep. Roger NuttAdditionally, former SC Sen. Mike Fair, Dr. Steve Pettit, Dr. Carl HerbsterRandy Page, Lenna Fox Smith, SC Life Pac, and SC Freedom Caucus ActionOf all the candidates in this race, Ellen has raised the most money. Kathy Maness​​​http://www>.kathymaness.comElected as a town council member in Lexington.  As the elected member of council she has voted for mask mandates, and shutting down business during the Covid pandemic, now she claims not to support them for SchoolsADemocratrunning as a Republican. In the debates she has parroted all the other Republican candidatespositions, even claiming to be in support of parental rights, school choice, and against mask mandates, vaccine mandates, CRT, and the forced acceptance of transgender policies from the feds. This is surprising since she is the leader of the state teachers union and the chief lobbyist for that union in which she took positions diametrically opposed to her statements in the debate. There is a video that shows KathyManess receiving praise and shout-outs from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, VP Kamala Harris; she openly campaigned for Bidentrillion-dollar infrastructure spending package and was at the signing ceremony. She is the current incumbents choice to replace her; Molly Spearman is another Democrat who ran on theRepublican ticketshe stood at the threshold of the legislature, lobbying and strong-armingHouse members not to override Obamas executive order to force schools to allow transgender use of restrooms and sports. Ive gone to the State Ethics Commission website and Ms. Maness has raised a lot of moneythere were five pages of donors when I lookedjust the first page had a third taken up by former Molly Spearman and other Democrat donors. She has openly fought school choice advocates in the legislature in her role as lobbyist for the PalmettoState Teachers Associationshe is trying to trick Republican voters into believing that she is a Republican when she is not. Shes not just a Democratshes a liberal one. As a Republican, it offends me to have someone representing themselves ahaving positions they do not hold.Further, I am offended that there are republicans who call themselves conservatives yet know exactly what positions Maness holds and are keeping silent for their own political futuresTrue conservatives wouldspeak out and identify those flying under false colors. Those who keep silence call into question how deeply they hold their supposed conservative values. Thiswill be remembered when they seek future office.Evert:This is a very important race for the GOP to vote in, we have one candidate who is now sending mailers to Dem voters asking them to turn out for the Pro-Public Education candidate(Kathy Maness).  For some background, I think I need to expound on some history of this seat in this state.  In the last 40 years the GOP has won this seat only three timesone with an establishment candidate, one with a conservative (Zais), and one Democratrunning as a GOP (Spearman).  This has never been an easy an easy win for the GOP. One of the major criticisms of Ellen Weaver is that she does not currently have a master’s degree, which the legislature put in place as a new requirement for this office in the last few years; she is currently working on her masters degree and expects tohave the mastersby October.Ms. Maness is currently sending a flyer to Democrat voters with the following messages, that Ellen wants tomake it easier to fire teachers, require merit-based pay system, increase unnecessary testing and burdensome accountability measures and that she, Maness, Advocates for pro-public education policies and further asks Democrats to come out and support her in the run off, all of this paid for by the Maness for state superintendent campaign, you can see the picture of the flyer on my Facebook page.Evert: endorse and will be voting for Ellen Weaver. GREENVILLE COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT # 19Willis MeadowsINCUMBENT​​www.willismeadows.comCurrent county council chairman. Has been a proven fiscal conservative who has fought hard through the years to protect the taxpayer and keep taxes low and regulations low, even going to the point to sue the County Council (and win at the State Supreme Court) when the county was collecting unconstitutional taxes and fees. He would rather refund a surplus to the taxpayers than spend it on pork barrel projects. He was an early Trump supporter.  He believes we should eliminate property taxes, starting with seniorsas a small business owner he understands the need for low taxes and fewer regulations. His platform is: a strong effective voice for the community, being a leader with integrity, and being a common-sense conservative GOP. He is part of the conservative majority on council. We have had a Republican majority on council,butnot a conservativemajority.Endorsed by 
Sen. Dwight Loftis,Rep. Mike Burns & Councilman Steve Shaw.Benton Blount ​​www.bentonblount.comcountry music star who had moved to Nashville, but after visiting Greenville for concerts, liked the area so much he moved here. You probably see on his signs Make District 19 Great Againthis comes from a true Trump-supporterhe tweeted his support for Trump and was promptly let go from his music contract in an absolute violation of his freedom of speech. In fact, the 3 issues he lists on his website are freedom of speech, 
2nd Amendment rights, and Less is More (referring to a limited government). The other major issue he lists is to build a bridge over Hwy 253Swamp Rabbit TrailCrossingIt has come uphe has an outstanding IRS tax liabilitylienthat has been placed on his property;he is not the first personto get in a bad spot with the IRS and wont be the last, but he needs to address and fix this issue.  His local agenda includes being a community servant, trust through transparency, infrastructure first, and supporting generational businesses. I heard him interviewed and was impressed with his knowledge of local issues from someone who is nationally known.Evert: I would vote for Willis Meadows.About the Author, Evert HeadleyEvert has been involved with politics since 1989, both at state and local levels. He considers himself to be a Reagan conservative (conservative on social, economic, and national security issues). His first issue is always the Right to Life (without that right, which is endowed by our Creator, none of the other rights even exists). His second issue is always the Second Amendment (the right to bear arms) because this right guarantees the ability of individuals and states to defend the other rights. His third issue is always the First Amendment (freedom of religion, speech and assembly). His fourth issue is the defense of capitalism and the defeat of Socialism/Marxism/Fascism, along with the protection oprivate property rightsOn the national level, we are printing too much money, spending too much money,and borrowing too much money. The federal government is trying to usurp and infringe upon the rights reserved to the states and to the individuals