Community Corner

SC1 Candidate Profile: Who is Sheriff Ray Nash?

S.C. First Congressional District GOP candidate Ray Nash received highest score on a conservative voting guide, but in Dorchester County you either love him or hate him.

Ray Nash. Now there's a name the people of Dorchester County know. But the rest of South Carolina's First Congressional District might only know him by his campaign slogan: Send a Sheriff to Congress.

If you Google "Sheriff Ray Nash," you're likely to come up with his company Police Dynamics and a Post and Courier story about his retirement from Dorchester County in 2008. His website, www.nashforcongress.com, isn't even on the first page. But, being one of 16 in the GOP special primary, he's still finding ways to stand out from the pack.

Nash recently earned the highest score on a scoresheet of the GOP candidates compiled by tea parties of Beaufort, Bluffton, and Hilton Head; 9.12 Project groups of Mount Pleasant, Moncks Corner, Goose Creek, Summerville and the Lowcountry; S.C. Fair Tax, the Republican Liberty Caucus and the Citadel Republican Society. He received a cumulative score of 4.6 out of 5 points.

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The score was compiled out of 20 questions, each with a possibility of 5 points each. The questions ranged from understanding the United Nation's Agenda 21 — an initiative that has sparked fear among some conservatives that the multi-nation body is attempting to control property rights — to term limits and fair tax. 

Nash's highest score (4.8) came from seven questions. Those questions included his understanding of Agenda 21, school choice, immigration laws, defunding Obamacare and support for balanced budget amendment. His lowest score was 3.7 on the question of should government compete with private enterprise. 

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Reacting to the news he scored highest — barely beating former Gov. Mark Sanford — Nash called it "amazing" and added that he offered no scripted answers but answered from the heart. 

Nash also made headlines recently when the official Twitter handle for the Dorchester County GOP made disparaging remarks — questioning the candidate's fiscal dealings as sheriff. 

So who is Nash? 

Nash was sheriff in Dorchester County from 1996 until 2008. Before that, Nash was one of the nation's youngest police chief at age 23 for Irmo Police Department. Under his tutelage, the Irmo department became known for driving Volkswagen Rabbits to save on gas costs. In Dorchester County, crime went down under his watch. 

Nash carries a copy of the U.S. Constitution in his breast pocket, and takes every question asked of him back to the document.

And if that all sounds a little gimmicky — or perhaps a little too pandering to the tea party conservatives that make up a large GOP voting block in District 1 — Nash and his supporters will say it's not. It's who he is. Nash says, as sheriff, he was a defender of the Constitution and he wants to take that role to Washington, D.C.

But far from beloved sheriff, Nash barely kept his seat in 2004 to GOP rival Sheriff L.C. Knight, who won after Nash's retirement and has held the seat since. In Dorchester County, you're either with Nash or against Nash, according to political observer and blogger Earl Capps. 

"You love him or you hate him," Capps said. "Among those who know him you're one of the two … He inspires loyalty and he commands loyalty but on the other hand he has people who don't like him as well."

Nash has made broad comparisons to Sheriff Richard Mack and Sheriff Joe Arpaio. But Capps said Nash is a stranger to the national stage and making large political cases out of issues so doesn't belong in that camp. That's not uncommon for S.C. sheriffs, who rarely seek office beyond their county. 

"He's not a politician first and never has been," Capps said. "Ray, when he was sheriff he did his job … He didn't make his job about political points."

And, Capps said, that made for some close elections during Nash's 12 years in office. However, Nash was the first sheriff for the county since longtime Sheriff Carl Knight to hold the position for more than a decade. 

Nash retired from the position in 2008, and to hear his critics tell the tale, it was a retirement born from scandal. Even Nash said the negative publicity played a factor in his decision to step out of the political spotlight. 

At the heart of the issue was a person, now convicted and serving time, stealing funds generated by the county jail. Nash has since been exonerated of having any knowledge. 

But Patch blogger and Dorchester County conservative Billy Simons said it raises real issues as to Nash being able to act as a watchdog for the taxpayer's dime, even if Nash was innocent of any wrongdoing. But Simons also has a horse in the GOP race. He is a volunteer on S.C. Rep. Peter McCoy's rival campaign for the GOP nomination.

While Nash may have the most name recognition in the county, he hasn't made his stake as a "the" Dorchester County candidate. He told Patch he would focus his campaign efforts in Beaufort County where he is less well known.


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