Mick Mulvaney: South Carolina House
Democratic Representative John Spratt has held onto South Carolina's 5th District since 1982, and he hasn't faced a strong challenger since 1996. Challenging him this time around, however, is Republican state senator Mick Mulvaney, yet another small-business owner clamoring to give an insider a run for his money. Mulvaney, a fiscal conservative who wants to rein in spending and opposes what his website calls "Obama's health care takeover," has claimed that he can emulate Scott Brown's success. He decided to challenge Spratt, he says, when he sat in on a town-hall meeting last year and was disgusted to hear Spratt claim that the new health care bill would offer a "quantum leap" in efficiency and costs. Mulvaney paints himself as an approachable candidate, asking visitors to his website to call — at his actual cell-phone number — or e-mail him at the first sign that he is using spin.