When Jane Ballard Dyer was 10 years old, her father told her climb two-dozen towering pine trees on their land in Easley and tie a rope around each treetop. That was so he could pull it away from their house when he cut it down.

“I was terrified,” said Dyer, 52. “But my dad said, ‘You can do this.’”

Dyer, one of eight children, was helping her family clear the land for a vegetable garden. But she says the experience also fed her spirit.

“When you do things you don’t think you can do, it gives you confidence for the next thing. Then I become a pilot in the Air Force.”

Dyer, a Democrat, is running against Republican Jeff Duncan and Constitution Party candidate John Dalen, for the 3rd Congressional District seat of South Carolina.

For Duncan, a state legislator from Laurens County, his family’s experience of moving repeatedly -- a dozen or so times throughout his youth -- due to his father’s career in the textile industry, made him adaptable.

“Moving around as much as we did, I have an ability because I was forced to to make friends easily and go into new situations with very little fear and adapt to new situations quickly,” said Duncan, 44, who has one brother.

“So honestly, I’m pretty transparent. I’m just Jeff. What you see is what you get.”

He said his background as a banker and an the owner of a real estate auction company taught him how to present his positions and speak well before a crowd.

“I’m definitely prepared for whatever comes my way,” he said. “It just takes somebody that’s confident in what they believe and someone who can articulate their positions.”

For Dalen, 53, one of seven kids who grew up in Detroit and moved to Westminster, S.C. in 2000, his outlook was shaped by witnessing the civil rights movement and worrying that he would be sent to war in Vietnam.

“I remember watching black people walking down the street and getting beat up by police,” said Dalen, adding that at the same time, “I did not feel the government was pursing the Vietnam War with the intent to win.”

All three candidates hope to replace U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett, a Republican who is not seeking another term, to represent the district that stretches from the northeast corner of the state in Pickens County down to Edgefield County and a western piece of Aiken County.

In a debate on SCETV,  major-party candidates Dyer and Duncan made their policy difference clear: Dyer supports Social Security; Duncan says the program should be phased out so that babies born now do not receive it when they are adults. Dyer says the U.S. Constitution should not be changed to eliminate the 14th Amendment; Duncan disagrees. Dyer says the nation cannot afford to keep the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans; Duncan says the tax cuts should be extended; Dyer says voters can decide term limits for officials by voting to re-elect them or not. Duncan says term limits are necessary to oust career politicians.

On Friday, Dalen acknowledged he and Duncan largely agree on the issues.

He said the Republican “seems like a nice guy, and he says a lot of the same things I do.”
But, said Dalen, the problem is the party.

“It’s the parties that are corrupted, controlled by special interest money, banks, corporations. ... If he’s part of a corrupt party, he’s not going to be effective.”

Voters in the 3rd Congressional district go the polls on Nov. 2 to elect a new representative, a new governor, and a host of state and local officials.

Name: John Dalen

Party: Constitution

Age: 53

Family: Wife Julie and son

Education: Certificate from American Institute for Paralegal Studies, Detroit, Mich. Licensed contractor in Calif. and S.C.

Experience: Owned and operated own construction business, residential and commercial building and remodeling for over 30 years of managing crews and completing projects. 

The pitch: This country is in dire need of statesmen, not politicians. The current two-party system is corrupted by a culture of greed and deception, collusion between government and big business, with politicians isolated from main stream America. We need term limits, reduced spending, taxes, smarter regulation.

Admires: George Washington.  He was willing to sacrifice everything – life, liberty and property in the founding of this nation, and he did not look to his own understanding.  He relied on God to direct his paths.  

Name: Jane Ballard Dyer

Party: Democratic, Working Families

Age:  52

Professional: Seven years service in US Air Force; Professional airline pilot with FedEx for 21 years

Educational:  B.S. Clemson University.

Family:  Husband John, two sons, a stepdaughter and stepson and three grandchildren

City of residence:  Easley

The pitch: As Clemson-trained engineer, ex-USAF pilot and now airline pilot, I am a problem solver. Those experiences along with being a mother and grand-mother, prove to me that we can solve all problems. We must work together – jobs, education and veteran support – to continue to lead the free world."

Admires: U.S. Rep. Bryan Dorn, because of his work with the veterans

Name: Jeff Duncan

Party: Republican

Age: 44

Professional: Owner of a real estate auction company; state legislator

Education: B.A. Clemson

Family: Wife Melody, three sons

City: Laurens

Pitch:  I know how to build coalitions and build relationships. And relationships are very, very important. It would be equally so in Washington. I don't pull a lot of punch politically or personally. I just let the chips fall where they may. I would want people to judge me for what they see and what I say.

Admires: Ronald Reagan

To view the SCETV debate, go to: http://www.scetv.org/election/

Reach Sarita Chourey at sarita.chourey@morris.com or (803) 727-4257