I live in South Carolina’s second Congressional district. Republican Joe Wilson is my Representative. He won in a landslide two years ago, collecting 181,862 votes to 93,249 for the Democratic challenger, Michael Ray Ellisor. I lived in Chicago two years ago, so this November will be my first chance to vote against the conservative incumbent.
Since there are no radical independents running, I’m looking to Ellisor for the upset. And what an upset it would be. This district has had a Republican Congressman for 41 years running.
Here’s some copy from the candidate’s web site, indicating where his head (and his heart) is:
(I will) work to heal the wounds and reverse the damage to our society caused by President Bush’s flagrant political move to single out a decidedly small segment of our society and make them the scapegoats for what the Christian Right calls our moral decline.
While I’d like to know more about the man, the above sentiment pretty much sums it up for me. He has my vote. But clearly, he needs another 90,000 people in this district to vote for him, if we’re going to bring a more populist vision to Washington, DC.
[UPDATE] 137,849 people live in Beaufort County, SC. During the 2004 election, 52,696 Beaufort County residents voted for or against Joe Wilson. 36,903 for and 14,597 against. Another 1196 voted for a third party candidate. Clearly, a lot of people are not engaged in the electoral process. Peaceful change means bringing more people into the process.
Click here for a mail-in voter registration application. For new registrations, attach a photocopy of a valid I.D. Then mail to: Voter Registration, P.O. Drawer 1228, Beaufort, SC 29901.