Copyright Charleston Post and Courier
SPARTANBURG — Three candidates from three different parties are vying to fill David Britt’s empty seat. In conservative County Council District 3, which stretches east from the city of Spartanburg’s eastside to Cowpens and south to Pacolet, general wisdom points to the Republican candidate winning without much of a fight, simply due to the R next to his name. Britt, a Republican, easily held it for more than three decades before leaving to join the state’s public service commission. The Republican nominee in the race, businessman and retired lawyer Paul Abbott, claims it leans 65-75 percent Republican and he could very likely be proven right come election day on Nov. 4. However, Democratic nominee and Spartanburg County Democratic Party chair Kathryn Harvey hopes he’s wrong. “I am running on the Democratic platform, there’s no two ways around it,” Harvey said. “It’s all an uphill battle, but this race feels very viable.” Harvey is far from a political newcomer, having elevated her profile in her 2024 run for U.S. House against Republican Rep. William Timmons. Timmons handily beat her in the race by more than 20 points, but Harvey was able to raise more money for the contest than any other Democrat in recent memory, at more than $500,000. Again, even at the local level, Harvey has proved her fundraising prowess. So far in the race for county council, she has raised more than $64,000, more than triple Abbott’s $21,000 haul. But Abbott is not daunted by the cash disparity, staying laser-focused on local issues and his deep ties to the area that led to his win in the crowded Republican primary race. “(Harvey) has raised a lot of money,” Abbot said. “She’s got a strong base of support from that standpoint. It’s just a matter of, do the voters agree with her positions there? Traditionally, again, it’s a Republican district.” The issues Abbott and Harvey have focused on throughout the campaign have seen plenty of overlap, betraying their partisan differences. Harvey’s website focuses on growth, preserving the community’s quality of life, improving roads and advocating for government transparency and quality education. During the primary, Abbott focused on the county and district’s explosive growth and how to control it, while not entirely plugging the flow. He specifically proposed plans to rein in high-density housing like large subdivisions, apartments and townhomes, and to encourage “traditional neighborhoods.” These plans, he said, differentiated him from other candidates who similarly called for controlling growth but did not outline clear plans on how. “Everybody says they’re for smart growth or intelligent growth,” Abbot said. “But all I’ve seen is headlines and bullet points.” Abbott is also not new to overcoming fundraising gaps. He beat Jason Lynch in the runoff, winning close to 60 percent of the vote, even with Lynch raising nearly $55,000. A third-party wildcard But there’s another factor that could throw a wrench into the race: A third-party candidate. Sarah Gonzalez, a member of the centrist Forward Party, founded in 2021 by 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, brands herself as a progressive calling for new voices to take the county in a new direction. Gonzalez, a former educator and current homeschooler and personal trainer, is 32 and new to politics and the Forward Party, only learning about it in the spring when Britt left his seat. She said she joined the race because she is disappointed in government at every level and decided to show her three kids that “if they see something and they want it to be better, instead of just complaining about it, they need to get involved.” She joined the Forward Party because she wants to avoid needing to toe a party line and likes its focus on crossing party lines. Her website states she’s running for average residents who are “too often overlooked” and calls for helping the area’s homeless community, free meals at schools, more green spaces and responsible government budgeting. “We need to stop arguing between left and right,” Gonzalez said. “What our government is supposed to be doing is moving forward instead of just perpetuating the goals of the right or the goals of the left. It should be the goals of everyone.” Abbott and Harvey have not paid Gonzalez or her party much mind. Harvey said she only recently learned about the Forward Party and thinks many others are also unaware of it. Abbott is continuing to focus on the issues and meeting with local leaders.
