By Paul Gable
The most competitive race in this year’s general election for the South Carolina Senate is taking place in Senate District 30, which includes Marion and Dillon counties and parts of Florence, Darlington and Horry counties. Five term incumbent Democratic senator Kent Williams is being challenged by Republican Rodney Berry.
What makes the race so competitive is Berry is not the normal type of challenger attempting to gain name recognition in the district. Before filing for office, Berry already possessed name recognition in the district at least equal to the incumbent Williams.
A graduate of Dillon High School, Berry was Captain and MVP of the Wildcats football team. He went on to graduate from Presbyterian College where he also starred on the football field serving two years as captain of the team and being named an All Decade linebacker for the 1990’s.
Berry served four years in the United States Marine Corps including being named as Parris Island Top Recruit and Company Honor Man. After his service to the country, Rodney entered the newspaper business founding the Dillon County Shopper, Marion County Penny Saver and his most successful venture of all “She Magazine”.
Berry transitioned into government service as Mayor of Marion, Dillon County Administrator and 10 years working with Congress. He was a principal negotiator in the economic development initiative that resulted in the Dillon Inland Port which has provided over 2,000 new jobs to date. He currently is a contractor for the entire economic development office of Dillon County.
District 30 has struggled over the five terms Williams has been its senator. While much of the state has experienced population and economic growth, District 30 lags seriously behind. For example, during that period, Marion County has lost 20 percent of its population while Dillon County has lost 10 percent. Several corporations have closed their doors over the 20 years of Williams’ senate tenure and small businesses are struggling throughout the district. Dillon and Marion counties rank among the poorest in the state.
In addition to representing Marion County as part of his senate district, Williams has served as Assistant Administrator for Marion County since December 13, 1999. Initially hired at a salary of $42,000 per year, he currently earns $72,380 per year, according to a response from Marion County to an FOIA request filed by GSD. According to Williams’ Statement of Economic Interests, required by state law to be filed by elected officials with the SC Ethics Commission each year, in 2023, Williams earned income of $30,479 from the state as a senator, income of $12,500 from Dillon County for district office reimbursement and income of $5,000 from the City of Marion for district office reimbursement. The sum of Williams’ total annual income from public funds is currently $120,359.
According to the Marion County response to the FOIA request, Williams is required to spend 37.5 hours per week in his job as assistant county administrator. With state senators typically spending at least three and one-half to four days each week during the months of January through May in Columbia, when the Senate is in session, it is difficult to see how Williams meets Marion County requirements for time at work.
At the Senate level, Williams is a member of the minority Democratic Caucus, making it difficult to advance an agenda. Of the top 25 earmarks in the current state fiscal year budget, 23 went to Republican held districts and none to District 30. Even though Williams has five terms of seniority in the Senate, that means little when it is with the minority party. It could be argued Berry, if elected, would have more sway with his contemporaries in the Senate, to help the constituents of District 30, as a freshman Republican senator and part of the majority caucus.
It is up to the voters of District 30 to determine which candidate will best serve their issues and interests over the next four years in Columbia. Is it time for a new direction?
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