When William Gray came to me and discussed running for the South Carolina House 41 seat almost a year ago I was very excited.

Gray was not a Johnny come lately Republican. After several years of being active in the Democrat Party (Like many Republicans of today) Gray had been active in the Republican Party for several years.

He worked for Governor Carroll Campbell’s gubernatorial campaign and advised gubernatorial candidate Oscar Lovelace on his. More important than him being a Republican, he was a conservative.

In my mind a “true” conservative Democrat is better than a RINO (Republican in Name Only) and Gray is a conservative Republican, the best of both worlds in my opinion. So when William came to me about running, I was very ecstatic.

Gray is the most qualified candidate for S.C. House 41.

He is an Army veteran who retired from the Army Reserve and fought in Vietnam and Desert Storm. Gray graduated from the University of South Carolina with two masters degrees.

He also retired from the state of South Carolina where he served as a hospital administrator at the Department of Mental Health. During his career he also taught at the University of South Carolina as an adjunct professor and worked as a staffer for Congressman Ken Holland.

He also served on the board of directors of a few private sector companies. I loved reviewing his resume and seeing a very qualified candidate that was not a lawyer. We have enough of those in Columbia, both Republican and Democrat. (Twenty-five percent of legislators in Columbia are lawyers.)

Gray will not go down to Columbia just to get along with people; he will go there to fight for conservative causes and the people of Fairfield, Chester and Richland Counties.

As a Republican he can actually get bills passed in Columbia at the Statehouse. As you know South Carolina is a Republican majority state. All nine constitutional officers are Republicans.

The Governor, State House of Representatives and the State Senate are led by Republicans.

If you look are the legislative records of the recent past representatives including Boyd Brown and Creighton Coleman, they were not able to get very much legislation passed, partly because they were in the minority party.

If Gray is elected to the S.C. House 41 seat he will be able to sponsor legislation that will get passed and benefit the citizens of Fairfield, Chester and Richland counties.

I am one who never thinks you should vote for or against someone based on the color of their skin, but based on their character.

So I will be voting for Gray based on his character, his qualifications, his ability to get things done and his conservative values.

Think about this though, with the racial tension in Fairfield County, what will it do to improve those relations if Fairfield County elects an African American Republican to S.C. House 41.

If Gray is elected, I think this will begin to bring the African American and White community together.

This will be the byproduct of voting for the most qualified candidate for S.C. House 41. Join me in voting for Gray for S.C. House 41 on Nov. 6.

I’ve given you something to ponder. Had enough? Vote Republican.