SC CONGRESSMAN WILL NOT HEAD OMB

The race for South Carolina’s 5th Congressional District is over before it even began.

The National Journal reported that President-elect Barack Obama will name current Congressional Budget Office Director Peter Orszag the next head of the Office of Management and Budget. Rep. John Spratt was widely rumored to be Obama’s top choice for the post, which would have created a special election.

GOP heavyweights from all over the district including former Gov. David Beasley, state Rep. Ralph Norman, and even Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer were all said to be weighing a run should Spratt to take the OMB job. But all is apparently for naught.

This doesn’t, however, mean we won’t see a hard-fought race for the 5th in the near future. In fact, it’s still likely that Spratt could be appointed by Obama to another position, possibly an ambassadorship.

Even if Spratt does choose to stay in the House, Republicans could make it nearly impossible for him to hold his seat in 2012. South Carolina is expected to regain a 7th Congressional District after the 2010 census and the GOP-controlled state legislature will redraw the lines, meaning Spratt’s already conservative seat could dissolve into two or more solidly Republican ones.