Republican Bill Hixon faces Democrat Jerico McCoy to keep S.C. House seat

Oct. 22—S.C. Rep. Bill Hixon, R-North Augusta, is the only member of Aiken County's delegation to the South Carolina House of Representatives to face an opponent in the Nov. 8 election.

Hixon faces Democratic candidate Jerico "J.D." McCoy.

Bill Hixon

Hixon has represented the seat since 2011. He is currently chairman of the House Agricultural, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee.

He was born in North Augusta and spend his early years in a home on West Avenue. Eventually, he moved to Edgefield County where continues to reside.

Hixon is a 1976 graduate of North Augusta High School. He is the president and owner of Hixon Insurance and Hixon Real Estate.

He added he is a big believer in constituent service and helping his constituents to cut through the red tape in Columbia.

Jerico McCoy

McCoy was born in Topeka, Kansas. He said his family was really poor and they moved around a lot. McCoy said he graduated from a California high school at 16.

"High school wasn't for me," McCoy said. "I went through a lot. I had a lot of family members in that area that had gotten in trouble with the law and stuff like that so I wasn't seen very well in that area because of my name."

McCoy joined the Army to come to South Carolina. He said he felt the state was different from the West Coast where he was living.

He served in the Army for 10 years when he was honorably discharged due to hip and back injuries. McCoy said he served as a propaganda officer in Iraq and also served at Fort Gordon.

McCoy said he had his best times in the Army at Fort Gordon and decided to return to the area after being discharged.

The issues

The economy

Hixon said one of the main agenda items for the Republican Caucus will be to lower taxes across the board to make the state more attractive to industry and people looking to relocate.

He said the General Assembly had already eliminated the income tax for retired military personnel. Hixon said he hoped that would help North Augusta to attract military retirees from across the Savannah River at the soon-to-be-named Fort Eisenhower.

Hixon added the state constitution requires that the state budget be balanced each year, meaning that revenues must equal expenses, and that the state had a surplus last year due to not closing down during the COVID-19 pandemic.

McCoy said South Carolina needed to grow industry to look at things like lowering taxes. He said he would look at alternative energy sources as a way of attracting economy development. McCoy also called for reducing or eliminating the inheritance tax and the personal property taxes.

Crime

McCoy said the state needed to encourage mental healthcare be encouraging mental health providers to come to the state. He also said the state needed a better Medicaid system to address mental health issues that lead to crime. McCoy also said he wanted to increase the funding for local law enforcement officers.

Hixon said he was pro-law enforcement person. He said his brother is a retired law enforcement agent and that he's a state constable. Hixon added he had voted to raise the state law enforcement salaries by $38 million this year.

"If you walked in my office today in Columbia, there's a file on my desk that says Bad Judges," Hixon said. "I've been keeping up in the newspaper and articles I would find of judges in our state that are not doing the truth in sentencing, letting these people out on no bonds or letting these people out when they committed a crime and they were already on probation. I don't like that."

He said repeat offenders who keep committing more and more crimes need to be put away even if it meant building bigger jails and prisons.

Abortion

Hixon said he was fine with the six-week abortion ban included in the state's fetal heartbeat bill. He added he was happy with the House bill that included exceptions for rape, incest and life and physical health of the mother. He said he was fine with the Senate added exception for fetal abnormalities.

McCoy said abortion is a medical procedure and that he doesn't believe the state has any right to determine what medical procedures people undergo. He added there should be a point where the right of the unborn supersedes the right of the mother. He said that point would be when the fetus could survive outside of the womb.

Fundraising

As of July 11, Hixon has raised $14,849.22, spent $8,801.14 and has $47,950.66 in campaign funds.

As of Oct. 19, McCoy has raised $2,548.18, spent $2,535.79 and has $12.39 in campaign funds available.

The following local members of the S.C. House of Representatives do not face opponents in the Nov. 8 election: S.C. Reps. Bart Blackwell, R-Aiken; Bill Clyburn, D-Aiken; Melissa Oremus, R-Graniteville; and Bill Taylor, R-Aiken.

The election is scheduled for Nov. 8.

For more information, visit SCVotes.org.