Beasley enters S.C. Senate race

WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Former South Carolina Gov. David Beasley said Wednesday he would be a candidate for the seat of retiring Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings, D-S.C.

Rumors Republican Beasley would enter the race have flourished in South Carolina since Thanksgiving after a poll commissioned by a Republican political consultant found the one-term ex-governor would defeat any of the four announced GOP candidates.

Already in the race for the GOP nomination are former state Attorney General Charlie Condon, Rep. Jim DeMint, businessman Tom Ravenel and Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride.

The front-runner among Democrats is state Education Superintendent Inez Tennenbaum, who must first get past party activist Marcus Belk in the June 8 primary.

South Carolina is considered a solidly Republican state in presidential years. George W. Bush carried the state in the 2000 presidential election, winning 57 percent of the almost 1.4 million votes cast.