Fielding Challenges Sen. Ford in District 42

Hoping to follow in his father's footsteps, Frederick "Fritz" Fielding filed to run for the S.C. Senate District 42 seat on Friday.

Fielding's father, Herbert Fielding, was one of the first African-Americans elected to the S.C. House of Representatives in the modern era and went on to also serve as the S.C. Senator for District 42. Fritz Fielding said he thinks he can do a better job than Sen. Robert Ford who now holds the seat.

"I've been thinking about it and thinking about it and thinking about it, and right around the time that Mayor Riley won his election for the last term, I kind of decided that, you know, I think I can do better than the senator that's there now," Fielding said. "And believe you me, this is not an easy decision."

Fielding takes issue with some of the things Ford has supported, especially Ford's support for allowing video poker to return to South Carolina. And Fielding accuses Ford of being hostile towards the Democratic Party and too often lining up with Republicans in the State Legislature.

Fielding said he is interested in working on all of the issues in the state, but that improving the state of public education in South Carolina is a top priority for him.

"I'm real interested in education," Fielding said. "We've got to do something with our education system. They're building a school on Sullivan's Island that nobody wants."

Economic growth for the Palmetto state also is an important issue, he said.

"Education and the economy, just like running for the presidency," he said. "You pick a subject, yeah, we're interested."

This election marks the first time Fielding has run for an elected office, though he has been working with various local campaign efforts, including Mayor Joe Riley's most recent re-election bid last November.