Fort Mill Times: Gregory won’t run again for state Senate seat

Add S.C. Senate District 16 to the list of seats up for grabs come November.

Republican Sen. Chauncey “Greg” Gregory recently announced he will not seek re-election when his term expires at the end of this year. Gregory held the seat for 16 years. He said it’s difficult to walk away with such seniority, but he felt it was time to move on.

“I don’t have much on my agenda left to accomplish,” Gregory said. “I didn’t see the point of another four years with just a couple of things left. Besides, change is good; new ideas are a good thing.”
Gregory said he has two goals left, and his name is attached to several pieces of legislation working their way through the process in Columbia.

His first goal is to hand Gov. Mark Sanford what he’s been asking for since he was elected - more power.

Gregory is sponsoring six resolutions to amend the state constitution to give the governor power to appoint the superintendent of education (which also eliminates the State Board of Education), treasurer, comptroller general, secretary of state, adjutant general and commissioner of agriculture. All of those bills are currently in committee.

“South Carolina has one of the weakest governors in the country and it has hamstrung us for over 100 years,” Gregory said. “Because of a long-held distrust of centralized power in South Carolina, we have about 500 governors; we have the governor, 170 members of the legislature, the other constitutional officers and about 300 people on boards and committees all carrying out what should be executive duties.”

His other concern is tobacco, and he is sponsoring no fewer than four bills dealing with smoking or tobacco products in the current session.

“I’ve been in favor of increasing the cigarette tax for a couple of reasons,” he said. “Number one, it makes it less affordable to youth, and we can use the extra money for health care.”

The current cigarette tax, the lowest in the nation at 7 cents per pack, covers approximately 25 percent of the costs to the state of tobacco-related illnesses, he added.

Gregory will be leaving the chairman post of the Fish, Game and Forestry Committee, as well as seats on the Corrections and Penology Committee, the Education Committee and the Judiciary Committee, where he was next in line for chairman.

Gregory likened serving in the Senate to having two full-time jobs. He also runs Builder Supply Co., his family’s business in Lancaster, which is turning 100 this year.

As far as he knows, no one has shown interest in his seat yet, though he said he’d like to see Rep. Mick Mulvaney, another Lancaster County lawmaker, run for the position.

Mulvaney did not return calls seeking comment for this story.

York County Republican Party Chairman Glenn McCall said he’s sorry to see Gregory go.

“I encouraged him to stay, but ultimately he decided against it,” McCall said. “So now we’re hoping to find a few people to run in the primary in June.”

With a long-serving senator retiring, McCall expects a tougher than usual fight for the seat from Democrats.

York County Democratic Party Chair Jim Watkins said several people have already expressed interest in the seat, though no one has announced a candidacy yet.

“My impression is it’s a good year to be a Democrat,” Watkins said. “An open seat is what everybody hopes for.”

Whoever the Republicans nominate, McCall expects the candidate to continue pushing to give the governor’s office more power.

He also expects that candidate will be in favor of extending Dave Lyle Boulevard from Rock Hill to Highway 521 in Indian Land.

Watkins said the Democratic candidate will likely be more interested in education.

Many in the party are skeptical of last year’s switch from property taxes to sales taxes for school operations.

The Democratic candidate also will likely fight any effort to shift tax money to private schools in the form of vouchers, an issue that never seems to die in Columbia.

“We cannot afford another member of the General Assembly to be a rubber stamp for Gov. Sanford,” Watkins said.

Gregory won’t run again for state Senate seat
By Jonathan Allen Fort Mill Times
(Published January 16‚ 2008)

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