Teddy Turner on SC1 Race: 'We Can Win This Thing'

As Teddy Turner was speaking to about 70 voters on Monday at the Technical College of the Lowcountry, several members of the audience were taking notes. One of them wrote, “positive attitude,” “self-deprecating” and “good conservative” on a piece of notepaper.

Those descriptions are as good as any for Turner, one of 16 entrants on the Republican side of the First Congressional District race to replace Tim Scott.  

Having never sought public office, Turner is running as an outsider. 10 of his rivals in the contest have held or run for office. Turner believes that works in his favor.

“I think people see I have a different background from the rest of the field,” Turner said. “They hear my story and that I’ve been lucky and had a lot of joy in my life. They see I’m passionate about being conservative.”

That background is, of course, growing up as the son of cable television mogul Ted Turner, whose political views are anything but conservative. Teddy Turner does not shy away from questions about his more famous father. He understands it’s the reason members of the national media were following him on the campaign trail.

Turner also knows he will get questions from people who think Jane Fonda— persona non grata among a certain generation of Republicans—is his mother. She isn’t. But Turner speaks of her fondly. “Jane did wonderful things for our family, but she and I agreed not to talk about politics,” Turner said. “She calls me the only conservative she’s ever loved. We’ve learned that love and politics don’t always mix.”

Turner may be a novice candidate, but he has an experienced team, which includes Chris Drummond, a former Mark Sanford staffer.

The race for SC1 will be short. The Turner campaign has already demonstrated its savvy by approaching the race in stages. Since Turner was unknown to many voters, early TV ads introduced him to voters. Now he’s speaking to any group that will have him. He was able to self-finance the early portion of his campaign, but is ramping up fundraising this week.

Getting to Round Two

The accepted doctrine of the race is that Sanford will be one of the two people to make the run-off on April 2 (the primary is on March 19). Turner does not necessarily believe this is a fait accompli. If it turns out to be the former governor, Turner seems to relish a head-to-head matchup. He’s not afraid to bring up the so-called “elephant in the room.”

“Listen, Mark’s personal life is his personal life,” Turner said. “We all have transgressions. But the fact is that Mark abandoned his post. He spent taxpayer money and lied about what he was using it for. His personal life is his personal life, but those things affected me as someone who voted for him. It’s a lack of leadership.”

In the brief campaign thus far, Sanford has not backed off discussion about the affair that ended his marriage. But he’s also made it clear he plans to run on his conservative record as a congressman and a governor. Turner is more than happy to discuss that record.

“Did (Sanford) have any great ideas? No. Did he get any important legislation passed? No. He vetoed the Port (of Charleston) reconstruction,” Turner said. “It’s easy to keep saying “No” and say you’re standing up for taxpayers. Does that mean he’s conservative? Or that he wasn’t able to get anything done?”

Turner snaps off his criticism of Sanford with a smile. The anger and umbrage present in some other Republican politicians does not seem to live inside of Turner. He’s sensitive to the idea that the Republican Party came under fire for being obstructionist or outdated in its appeal to voters.

The previous occupant of the First Congressional District seat, Tim Scott, shot to prominence in part, because he spoke passionately yet positively. Turner intends to continue that practice.

“(Republicans) need to be a party of inclusion,” he said. “We’ve had some high-level people say some unfortunate things. There’s no other candidate in this race who’s worked with the variety of people I have, so I understand that.”

Among the variety of people Turner has worked with are the students at Charleston Collegiate School, where he has co-taught a pair of economics classes with the Head of School since 2010.

The school is tiny and students come from across the demographic spectrum. Its small size helps Turner build relationships and he said if his pursuit of office is unsuccessful, he’ll go back to teaching.

But the next time Turner goes to the school, he’d like it to be as a Congressman.

“All we want is a fair shake in this race,” Turner said of his chances. “I know we can win this thing.“

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