Erickson holds early financial lead over Brown

Republican Rep. Shannon Erickson has a big lead in her re-election bid to House District 124 on her only opponent, Democrat and Beaufort lawyer Jim Brown.

Campaign disclosure filings show she raised $13,960 in the first three months of the year, her first three months in the legislature. Combined with a loan, she raised a total of $24,601.

Erickson won the seat in a special election last year after then-Rep. Catherine Ceips, R-Beaufort, gave it up for a Senate seat. Brown's first quarter filings were filled with goose eggs — no contributions or spending — though it's an asymmetrical comparison because he had only been in the race for two days before the quarter ended.

"So let's start with that," Brown said.

Brown said he didn't know how much money his campaign had collected since March 31 off the top of his head, but said he has found that financial support is "very available" for Democrats this year.

"Things are pretty sour. People are ready for change, no matter if it's been six months or eight years," Brown said.

Of the financial gap, Brown was pragmatic.

"People don't need a silver purse to express their sentiment in the voting booth," Brown said. "Getting the money is something that has to be done, but I look at it as a marathon, not a sprint."

Erickson said she sought business and political action committee's support through mailings and a fund raiser in Columbia, but didn't want "any one group to over-subsidize" her campaign. With money tight for many and a slew of other elections coming up, she wanted to "spread around" the burden, instead of putting it on individual donors as in her last campaign.

"I did accept more PAC (political action committee) money the second time around than I ordinarily would accept," Erickson said Sunday.

Erickson said she'll maintain her open door policy with her donors and non-donors alike.

Primaries are June 10, though Brown and Erickson are unopposed for their respective parties' nominations. They will square off against each other in the November general election.

Even though Erickson doesn't have to worry about the upcoming primary, her fundraising kept pace with Ceips, who raised $25,608 in the first quarter. Ceips is being contested in her primary by Tom Davis, the governor's former chief of staff, who had raised $7,638 and taken out a $15,000 loan.

The vast majority of Erickson's donors were businesses or business interests:

$500 Podiatry Associates of Beaufort

$500 South Carolina Bankers Association

$500 Progress Energy Employees' Carolina PAC

$500 Duke Energy Corp.

$500 BB&T

$500 South Carolina Automobile Dealers Association

$500 McAngus Goudelock & Courie, a law firm with five offices in the Carolinas

$250 Reynolds American, parent company to several tobacco companies

$250 McNair Law Firm based in Columbia

$400 BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina

$250 South Carolina Health Care Association

$250 First Citizens Bank

$250 South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance

$250 Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of South Carolina

$250 Coca-Cola Bottling Co.

Only two donors, Heather Winch of Beaufort and Dennis Drew of Isle of Palms, maxed out the $1,000 contribution limit.

The next round of finance filings are due July 10. House District 124 covers Port Royal, parts of Beaufort and most of the Sea Islands of northern Beaufort County.

Find campaign finance reports online at www.sc.gov/PublicReporting