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Wes Hayes

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Wes Hayes
Image of Wes Hayes
Prior offices
South Carolina House of Representatives

South Carolina State Senate District 15

Education

Bachelor's

United States Military Academy West Point, 1975

Law

University of South Carolina School of Law, 1983

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Army National Guard

Service / branch

U.S. Army

Years of service

1975 - 1980

Personal
Religion
Christian: Presbyterian
Profession
Attorney

Robert W. "Wes" Hayes, Jr. is a former Republican member of the South Carolina State Senate, representing District 15 from 1991 to 2016.

Hayes served in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1985 to 1991.

Biography

Hayes earned his B.S. from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1975. He went on to receive his J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1983. He has worked as attorney/partner for Harrison Hayes and Guyton Law Firm since 1986.

Hayes was an Officer in the United States Army, 82nd Airborne Division, from 1975 to 1980. He has been an Officer in the South Carolina Army National Guard since 1980.

Committee assignments

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Hayes served on the following committees:

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Hayes served on the following committees:

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Hayes served on the following committees:

2009-2010

In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Hayes served on the following committees:

Issues

Teacher pay

Hayes led a Senate study panel on ways to recruit and retain South Carolina teachers in public schools. Among the suggestions made by the study panel was paying teacher mentors an additional stipend on top of their normal pay, boosting salaries for some teachers and forgiving student loans.[1] Hayes said such initiatives were especially important in rural districts, where communities have found it particularly hard to find high-quality teachers for classrooms, in part because rural districts often pay less than urban and suburban districts and are less attractive places to live. Student loan forgiveness programs were emphasized by the study panel, as current programs require education majors to apply for specific loans as the start of their education that would be forgiven over time during their careers. State Senator Brad Hutto (D), also a member of the study program, said the existing programs punish those who choose to be teachers later. Hayes also noted that those graduating with student debt may be de-incentivized to become teachers, as the minimum first-year pay for a teacher in South Carolina is $29,500, though some districts do pay higher. The panel did not provide dollar figures for their suggestions in the report given to the Senate Finance Committee.[2]

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2016

See also: South Carolina State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for the South Carolina State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on June 14, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The primary runoff election was held on June 28, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 30, 2016.

Wes Climer ran unopposed in the South Carolina State Senate District 15 general election.[3][4]

South Carolina State Senate, District 15 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Wes Climer  (unopposed) 100.00% 39,584
Total Votes 39,584
Source: South Carolina State Election Commission



Wes Climer defeated incumbent Wes Hayes in the South Carolina State Senate District 15 Republican primary.[5][6]

South Carolina State Senate, District 15 Republican Primary, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Wes Climer 51.82% 4,993
     Republican Wes Hayes Incumbent 48.18% 4,643
Total Votes 9,636
Source: South Carolina State Election Commission

2012

See also: South Carolina State Senate elections, 2012

Hayes won election in the 2012 election for South Carolina State Senate District 15. Hayes ran unopposed in the June 12 Republican primary and defeated Joe Thompson (I-Petition) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[7][8][9]

South Carolina State Senate, District 15, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngWes Hayes Incumbent 74.2% 29,306
     Independent Joe Thompson 25.5% 10,049
     Other Write-Ins 0.3% 115
Total Votes 39,470

2008

See also: South Carolina State Senate elections, 2008

Hayes won re-election for District 15 of the South Carolina State Senate with 38,421, ahead of write-ins (274).[10]

Hayes raised $124,603 for his campaign.[11]

South Carolina State Senate, District 15
Candidates Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Wes Hayes (R) 38,421
Write-ins 274

Campaign finance summary


Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.


Wes Hayes campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2012South Carolina State Senate, District 15Won $153,667 N/A**
2008South Carolina State Senate, District 15Won $124,603 N/A**
2004South Carolina State Senate, District 15Won $25,978 N/A**
2000South Carolina State Senate, District 15Won $49,748 N/A**
1996South Carolina State Senate, District 15Won $8,683 N/A**
Grand total$362,679 N/A**
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in South Carolina

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of South Carolina scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.










2016

In 2016, the South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 12 through June 2.

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental and conservation issues.
Legislators are scored on business issues.
  • South Carolina Club for Growth - House and Senate 2015-16 scorecard
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization.
Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.


2015


2014


2013


2012


2011

The Palmetto Liberty PAC Scorecard

See also: Palmetto Liberty Political Action Committee's Legislative Scorecard (2012)

The Palmetto Liberty Political Action Committee, a conservative, pro-limited government think tank in South Carolina, releases its scorecard for South Carolina representatives and senators once a year. The scorecard gives each legislator a score based on how he or she voted in the two-year legislative term prior to the election on specific issues that the Palametto Liberty PAC thinks are anti-limited government. "Most of the votes shown on the score card are votes that we lost. Now we can identify the Legislators that caused us to lose these votes. These Legislators are the ones who need to be replaced if we are to achieve the vision of having the most free state in the nation."[15]

2012

Wes Hayes received a score of 18% in the 2012 score card, ranking 20th out of all 46 South Carolina Senate members.[16] His score was followed by Senators William O'Dell (18%), Greg Ryberg (18%), and Nikki G. Setzler (18%).[17]

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Hayes and his wife, Sarah Mellon Shurley, have three children.[18]

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term "Wes + Hayes + South + Carolina + Senate"

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. WACH Fox57, "Senators: Erasing debt could recruit more SC teachers," December 18, 2014
  2. Seanna Adcox, Daily Reporter, "Legislators could explore debt forgiveness and increased pay as ways to keep good SC teachers," December 18, 2014
  3. South Carolina State Election Commission, "Candidate listing for the 11/8/2016 statewide general election," accessed August 26, 2016
  4. South Carolina State Election Commission, "2016 Statewide General Election," accessed November 28, 2016
  5. South Carolina Election Commission, "Candidate Tracking," accessed March 31, 2016
  6. South Carolina State Election Commission, "Unofficial primary election results," accessed June 14, 2016
  7. South Carolina State Election Commission, “2012 General Election – Official Results,” November 19, 2012
  8. AP.org, "South Carolina State Senate and State House Election Results," accessed November 7, 2012
  9. South Carolina State Election Commission, "2012 Candidates," accessed April 25, 2012
  10. South Carolina State Election Commission, "Official election results for 2008," accessed May 15, 2014
  11. Follow the Money, "2008 campaign contributions," accessed May 15, 2014
  12. The State, "High court rules against Haley," June 6, 2011
  13. The Sun News, "S.C. House to have special session in June," May 6, 2011
  14. The Island Packet, "S.C. Senate OKs new congressional districted anchored in Beaufort County," June 29, 2011
  15. The Palmetto Liberty Political Action Committee, "Voting Records," accessed April 11, 2014
  16. Palmetto Liberty Political Action Committee, "South Carolina Senate Score Card 2012," accessed May 15, 2014
  17. Palmetto Liberty Political Action Committee, "South Carolina Senate Score Card 2012," accessed May 15, 2014
  18. South Carolina Legislature, "Senator Robert W. Hayes, Jr.," accessed August 22, 2016
Political offices
Preceded by
'
South Carolina State Senate - District 15
1990-2016
Succeeded by
Wes Climer (R)


Current members of the South Carolina State Senate
Leadership
Senate President:Thomas Alexander
Majority Leader:Shane Massey
Minority Leader:Brad Hutto
Senators
District 1
District 2
Rex Rice (R)
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
Vacant
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
Ed Sutton (D)
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
Tom Young (R)
District 25
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
District 36
District 37
District 38
District 39
District 40
District 41
District 42
District 43
District 44
District 45
District 46
Tom Davis (R)
Republican Party (33)
Democratic Party (12)
Vacancies (1)