By SARITA CHOUREY
BEAUFORT TODAY COLUMBIA BUREAU

COLUMBIA -- Beaufort County Democrats hope Barack Obama's apparent popularity will help local Democratic candidates in their traditionally “red” county.

"People are hoping for some coattails," said Pat Goodman, chairwoman of the Sun City Democratic Club.

In particular, she pointed to Kent Fletcher, who faces Republican Tom Davis in the Nov. 4 election to replace Sen. Catherine Ceips, who lost this year’s Republican primary. Davis is the governor's former chief of staff.

Coincidentally, Fletcher caught the eye of Beaufort County Democrats at an Obama rally.

At the rally, Fletcher, a former U.S. Marine Corps infantry officer, announced Sgt. Maj. John Estrada, who then announced Obama at Battery Creek High School a few days before the January primary.

"I don't think Kent ever thought about running for office until he was approached by the party, based on his work on the Obama campaign," said Goodman. "That's when we really got to know him.”

Goodman said she hopes others will get to know Fletcher, too, but acknowledged that's difficult when he has little money to spend on ads.

"I've never heard of the guy," said James Wedgeworth, chair of the Beaufort County Republican Party. "He's wasting his time."

Fletcher spent $61 and has $189 left, while Davis spent $315,000 in the GOP primary and has $3,900 on hand, according to July campaign finance reports.

While Goodman said she predicts Obama will boost Democratic candidates across the state, including Fletcher, Wedgeworth was doubtful.

"Barack is not going to do well in Beaufort County," said the GOP chairman. "He might do well in Jasper County. ... No candidate with a liberal voting record like Obama is going to do well in Beaufort County."

However, in Beaufort County Obama gathered almost exactly the same percentage of votes in January's Democratic presidential primary as he did statewide.

In the county, Obama won 56 percent of the nearly 17,000 votes cast for Democratic candidates. Across the state, which does not register voters by party, Obama won 55 percent of Democratic votes.

GOP nominee Sen. John McCain did considerably better in Beaufort County than he fared statewide in the January Republican primary. In the county, he won 42 percent of the votes cast compared with 33 percent statewide.

As for whether Obama's lower popularity in Beaufort County would hurt his own candidacy, Fletcher said no, stressing that most voters separate federal issues from state issues.

"I give the people of Beaufort County more credit than that," he said.

Besides, added the University of Phoenix - Savannah enrollment counselor, "I'm not platforming directly off of Senator Obama. But we do share a lot of ideas and a lot of policies, and I do support Senator Obama."

Sarita Chourey can be reached at (803) 727-4257 or sarita.chourey@morris.com