Rick Wade in 2014 SC Senate debate
On Principles & Values:
Withdraws from race, citing too-late entrance
S.C. Democrats can't keep a candidate in a race. Rick Wade, the former Obama Administration official and cabinet head under Gov. Jim Hodges, said Thursday that he will end his U.S. Senate race against Republican Tim Scott. "I certainly had no illusions
about being able to match a multimillion-dollar campaign war chest," he said. "But after a couple of months as a candidate, I've concluded that the timing of my entrance--less than a year before Election Day--had compressed the calendar too much for me
to raise the money needed to mount a serious challenge."Wade had been the prohibitive favorite to win the Democratic nomination to face Scott in the November general election. His withdrawal comes a day after state Rep. Mike Anthony, D-Union,
said he would quit the race for state education superintendent. Wade's withdrawal leaves only long-shot Democratic candidate Joyce Dickerson, a Richland County councilwoman, to oppose Scott in November.
Source: The State magazine on 2014 South Carolina Senate race
Mar 6, 2014
On Budget & Economy:
AdWatch: 5 years in Washington on failed $787B stimulus
Wade was an adviser to Barack Obama's 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. He also has run for statewide office before, losing the 2002 race for secretary of state to Republican Mark Hammond.State Republican party leaders called
Wade a "political insider." The GOP chairman said, "He spent the last five years in Washington authoring President Obama's failed $787 billion stimulus bill and sending taxpayer dollars to his political cronies.
We look forward to Rick Wade explaining that record to regular South Carolinians. They won't be too impressed."
The Wade campaign responded, "When it comes to choosing between what's best for South Carolina and America and what's best for his tea party friends, Senator Tim Scott will always choose the tea party".
Source: Greenville News AdWatch on 2014 South Carolina Senate race
Dec 15, 2013
On Government Reform:
Washington is broken
Rick Wade, a former U.S. Commerce Department adviser and Cabinet officer under then-Gov. Jim Hodges, will seek the Democratic nomination next year for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Tim Scott."The people of South Carolina understand that
Washington is broken," the Democratic Lancaster native said in a statement released Friday night. "If we are going to solve the big problems we face and get things done, our representatives must be accountable to their constituents."
Source: Greenville News AdWatch on 2014 South Carolina Senate race
Dec 15, 2013
On Civil Rights:
First all-black U.S. Senate race in recent memory
Democratic heavyweight Rick Wade will challenge Sen. Tim Scott (R) in 2014, sources tell FITS--setting up a high-profile (and potentially historic) matchup in the Palmetto State's "other" US Senate contest.Wade filed paperwork with the Federal
Election Commission (FEC) this week--and if he and Scott earn their respective party's nominations (as they are expected to do) it would set up the first all-black U.S. Senate race in recent memory. Maybe ever.
"A Scott-Wade matchup would allow
South Carolina to see a campaign unlike any it--and few if any other states--has ever seen: a bona fide race for U.S. Senate between two African-American candidates," a liberal columnist wrote earlier this year.
Richland County councilwoman Joyce
Dickerson--another black Democrat--has said she's running against Scott in 2014, but she's not viewed as a credible candidate.
We expect Wade--who helped lead Obama's 2008 minority turnout effort--to help mobilize black voters in a big way in 2014.
Source: FITS News on 2014 South Carolina Senate race
Dec 13, 2013
On Corporations:
Served in Obama's U.S. Commerce Department
Wade is a Democratic National Committeeman with extensive corporate and government experience--including a senior post in Barack Obama's U.S. Commerce Department. An early supporter of Obama's 2008 campaign,
Wade is expected to receive extensive national support in his effort to unseat Scott--who was appointed to his post a year ago by S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley.This won't be Wade's first bid for elected office. In 2002 he was handily defeated by
Republican Mark Hammond in the race for S.C. Secretary of State--although at that point he had yet to build a national network of supporters.
We also expect Wade--who helped lead Obama's 2008 minority turnout effort--to help mobilize black voters in a big way in 2014.
Source: FITS News on 2014 South Carolina Senate race
Dec 13, 2013
On Education:
All 6 siblings attended public schools
Born in Lancaster South Carolina, "a mill town," as he describes it, Wade says his personal story "is so South Carolina.""I had very humble beginnings," he says. "A father who didn't graduate from high school,
was a fork lift operator in the textile mills, a mother who graduated from what then was called Lancaster Training School and was a nurse's assistant her entire life.
And six of us; five boys and one girl and we all went to the public schools. All of my brothers; four other brothers had distinguished military careers, following in my father's footsteps as a war veteran.
And I was the first person in my family to pursue advanced education at the University of South Carolina and then ultimately at Harvard University."
Source: TheGrio webzine interview on 2014 South Carolina Senate race
Dec 13, 2013
On Health Care:
ObamaCare addresses closing health care disparities
Wade acknowledges Scott's achievement [as the first black S.C. Senator], but insists Scott hasn't done much for his state with the position. "Well listen, Tim is not what we need based on where South Carolina is," says Wade. "South Carolina has,
unfortunately, some of the greatest health care disparities in the country. We're ranked at the bottom on education. Our unemployment rate is one of the highest in the country. Tim's not doing anything to fix those problems.
He's been in Congress, albeit he's only been appointed for what, maybe a year now by Governor Haley. And he's not doing anything. He's not addressing the issues in
Washington that help to close those health care disparities. And you've got to do more than just attack ObamaCare. I mean, what's the answer? What's the solution?"
Source: TheGrio webzine interview on 2014 South Carolina Senate race
Dec 13, 2013
On Principles & Values:
Commitment to listen to the people, not special interests
Wade announced his candidacy saying, "the people of South Carolina understand that Washington is broken. If we are going to solve the big problems we face & get things done, our representatives must be accountable to their constituents. That starts with
3 commitments:- The commitment to listen to the people
- A promise to work for bipartisan solutions to fix our problems
- A commitment to reduce the influence of special interests that have enjoyed too much power in Washington for too long."
Source: TheGrio webzine interview on 2014 South Carolina Senate race
Dec 13, 2013
On Technology:
Infrastructure investment in the poorest areas of S.C.
Wade sees his biggest asset is his experience with, and understanding of, business and industry. "I was down in Charleston with Vice President Biden [a couple of months ago] when he made a big announcement about his infrastructure investment in the
poorest areas of South Carolina, which is important to commerce and trade. Tim Scott voted against that. Everything he's doing is counterproductive to where we need to be going in the state of South Carolina. He voted against the Farm Bill."
Source: TheGrio webzine interview on 2014 South Carolina Senate race
Dec 13, 2013
On Education:
Vision for S.C. focused on education and jobs
It would be intriguing to see two black candidates with opposite viewpoints on a laundry list of issues debating them before the people. At the end of the day, voters would be asked to choose not based on race but on these candidates' ideas and
philosophies.Wade believes he can articulate a vision--one focused on education and jobs, among other things--that many South Carolinians would agree with. He said he would take "my message to the people, wherever they are, whoever they are."
Source: The State magazine on 2014 South Carolina Senate race
Aug 29, 2013
On Principles & Values:
Ran unsuccessfully for secretary of state in 2002
While he's never served in elected office, Wade ran unsuccessfully for secretary of state in 2002. He crisscrossed the state introducing himself to South Carolinians as a moderate with a business agenda and a conservative fiscal message. He likes to
refer to himself as a country boy from Lancaster who leans on his values and faith to guide him.Wade oversaw the S.C. Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services for three years under then-Gov. Jim Hodges.
Source: The State magazine on 2014 South Carolina Senate race
Aug 29, 2013
On Energy & Oil:
V.P. of GreenTech Automotive, the "green car" company
Rick Wade is an exceptionally busy man. The former Obama cabinet official helped run the president's latest campaign while simultaneously serving as a Democratic Party executive and vice president of GreenTech Automotive, the "green car" company owned
by Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe. Besides Wade, the venture has attracted other high-profile political insiders: Bill Clinton appeared at a company launch party.
Hillary Clinton's brother Anthony Rodham runs the firm's foreign-investor outreach. Former Republican National Committee chair and Mississippi
Gov. Haley Barbour used a mix of grants and tax holidays to persuade McAuliffe to build GreenTech in Mississippi.
Source: Human Events magazine on 2014 South Carolina Senate race
Apr 24, 2013
On Free Trade:
Envoy to China, to get investment via EB-5 visas
His Commerce Department job allowed Wade to hone a skill that might explain his value to GreenTech Automotive: he became a US envoy on Chinese and Asian trade.GreenTech's majority owners have ties to China and the company seeks to raise capital from
that country. It is mired in controversy over its use of a program here called EB-5, which allows foreign nationals to obtain US visas in exchange for their investment in targeted US companies. Each investment must produce at least 10 jobs.
Source: Human Events magazine on 2014 South Carolina Senate race
Apr 24, 2013
Page last updated: Dec 07, 2018