Michael Koska, H77, Republican

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10:31 a.m. — Michael Koska, a professional photographer, is an interesting candidate in a number of ways.

First, he’s a white Republican running in the district that has been represented by John Scott since 1990. That’s often a sign of someone making a purely symbolic, quixotic gesture. But he’s quite serious.

More than that, for someone running for office for the first time, he’s unusually well-informed and thoughtful about issues. His knowledge is born of experience.

He got interested in serving his community after hearing about a school teacher dying on a road he travels every day — Hard Scrabble. He found out that local government didn’t plan to fix the road for another 20 years. So he started a campaign to do something about it. He collected 10,000 signatures on a petition, and went to Sen. Joel Lourie and Rep. Bill Cotty for help. He got $400,000 to fix a problem right in front of the school, which he calls a "very small victory," as a true fix for Hard Scrabble will run $70 million. And, as he just discovered, that’s just the beginning of local road needs that we haven’t figured out how to pay for. (He said he almost ran two years ago after he heard Mr. Scott offer light rail as as answer to our transportation woes — but he discovered the filing deadline had just passed.) He’s for borrowing the money now to fix these problems, as it will only be more expensive later.

He’s also, as a small business owner, very interested in the state finding a way to provide affordable health coverage. He’s had to pay an exorbitant amount for insurance that doesn’t meet his needs — he was charged $20,000 for his wife to go through a perfectly normal, healthy childbirth. But he doesn’t dare try to switch policies because it took him so long to get this one.

And he recognizes the issue as one that goes far beyond his own case. He sees how small businesses in general are held back, which is a millstone around the state’s neck economically. He speaks of all the people who are trapped in jobs they can’t quit, because they can’t do without the insurance.

The video below shows the knowledgeable way in which Mr. Koska speaks of these issues.

On other matters:

  • He favors a move to a Cabinet system of state government.
  • Unlike me he may not love light rail, but he’s all for the state doing what it can (since the federal government has failed so miserably) to move us toward energy independence. "We’re financing both sides in the War on Terror." He’s for going nuclear (in terms of peaceful use, that is), and promoting electric cars.
  • In general, as a Ronald Reagan Republican, "I think taxes should stay as low as they can." But he refused to sign Grover’s pledge, bless him.

So you’re thinking I’ve gotta love this guy, right? Well, nobody’s perfect. He’s for private school vouchers. He thinks it would mean we’d have fewer public schools to build, and help with overcrowding.

Like I said, nobody’s perfect. Here’s the video (sorry about the wiggly picture — it’s the stripes on his shirt):

7 thoughts on “Michael Koska, H77, Republican”

  4. C. Williams

    Michael is the right man for the job. He says what he means and means what he says! He understands the problems in his district and wants them changed for the better. He is a problem solver and he gets involved with the issues to make sure they are done correctly.

  5. Anton Gunn

    It is scary to hear the similarities of Mr. Koska story about health care and my own personal experience with the birth of my daughter Ashley 3 years ago. My bill was $15,000 not counting the $4,000 I already paid in pre-natal care. All of this because my wife has been self-employed for 12 years as a real estate agent. What makes it worse is that we have no prescription drug coverage on our policy and pay out about $300 monthly on medicines. If we change our policy then we lose the months that we have already put in to get beyond the exclusion periods.
    We must fix our health care system now. Its crushing small business owners and even employees of small businesses. Try working for a 4 person auto-repair shop, 3 person law firm, or a 5 person copy shop and see what a basic policy will cost you.
    Our state can do better by our citizens as it relates to this health care crisis. Raise the cigarette tax and allocate the money to health care programs for small businesses and their employees.
    I would fight for that and vote for it if given the opportunity!

  6. Trey Hinson

    Michael has shown a great business sense, which would be extremely beneficial for the citizens of District 77. I wish him the best in his election bid and am thankful for individuals that are willing to represent the citizens of South Carolina. Thank you for your contribution Michael.

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