James Island Public Service Commissioner Eugene Platt submits paperwork to SC State Election Commission Chris Whitmire to run in May special election in the 1st Congressional District.
Eugene Platt has filed paperwork to run in the May 7, 2013 special election for the 1st Congressional District as a candidate of the South Carolina Green Party. Platt submitted his statement of candidacy to Chris Whitmire of the South Carolina State Election Commission at 11:15 AM in the Commission offices in Columbia.
More than 20 candidates will compete in primaries or conventions prior to the special election. The two major parties will nominate candidates by primary on March 19. The Green Party will nominate its candidate by convention in Charleston on March 9. If he receives the nomination, Platt will be one of three candidates on the special election ballot.
Eugene Platt is the only Green Party member serving in an elected position in South Carolina. Currently, Platt serves as Senior Commissioner on the James Island Public Service District Commission. He has held the office since 1993 and most recently was reelected in 2012.
Platt believes that neither major party candidate is likely to discuss the need to raise revenue and end foreign military adventures in order to preserve essential services at home. As a candidate of the Green Party, he would push for many solutions found in the Greens’ 2012 campaign platform, the Green New Deal.
The South Carolina coastal environment is something Platt has worked to conserve, by opposing the I-526 expansion and encourage sustainable development on James Island.
In 2011, Platt convinced the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments to approve a motion asking the State Election Commission to audit the use of electronic voting machines. Platt’s concerns were later justified by subsequent vote over-counts and under-counts discovered through audits in the Richland County 2012 election.
As a long-serving public servant in the Lowcountry, Eugene will continue his work on the James Island Public Service Commission, serving his constituency with an openness to new ideas and the aspirations of the people of the 1st Congressional District.
Links:
James Island Public Service District: http://www.jipsd.org/commission.html
Eugene Platt campaign website: http://voteplatt.com
Eugene Platt Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Eugene-Platt/14190535917
Further information on the special election:
The first congressional district includes parts of Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, and Dorchester counties.
A full listing of all candidates competing for a party nomination either by primary or by convention, can be found here: http://scvotes.org/2013/01/28/u_s_house_of_representatives_district_1_special_election.
South Carolina Green Party 