Could Andre Bauer Play Spoiler in 2014?

When last seen on the political stage, Andre Bauer was losing to Tom Rice in the run-off for the 7th Congressional District seat roughly a year ago.

Since then, Bauer has devoted his time mostly to his real estate business (and keeping an active Facebook page).

But in recent weeks, with preparations beginning for the 2014 election cycle, Bauer’s name has started to be mentioned as a candidate for a variety of offices.

In a conversation with Patch last week, Bauer confirmed that he has been approached to run for several offices, but would not say which ones.

His name has most commonly been mentioned for governor (which he ran for and lost in 2010), lieutenant governor (an office he held from 2003-2011) and mayor of Myrtle Beach (where he now lives).

Bauer did his best to sound like he has run his last political campaign, saying, “I haven’t been back to the Statehouse since I left it.”

He also added, “This is the most stress-free I’ve been in my entire adult life.”

However, in speaking about his business interests, Bauer described the frustrations of government regulations and the talk then turned to politics. “The more I work in business, the more I think we need less government,” he said.

What’s potentially compelling about a Bauer a candidacy is that it would not necessarily be as a Republican, a possibility Bauer himself did not dismiss.

Both the governor’s race and the lieutenant governor’s races are expected to be competitive.

Democrats Vincent Sheheen and Bakari Sellers will be underdogs in their races against Nikki Haley and Glenn McConnell next year, but not by a large margin. The presence of Bauer on one of those ballots, where it would not be unreasonable to think he could draw five percent of the vote, would change the calculus in both those races.

With no realistic chance for statewide office, that could be a way for Bauer to get some leverage.

Running from a third party would pose some issues for Bauer though. Namely, he would only have one round of fund-raising since he would not likely be in a primary.

In the long-term it might alienate him from the South Carolina GOP forever. When asked about a potential Bauer candidacy, one influential Republican said, “Andre has been rejected by voters across the state and in the 7th district. The only reason he would be running is for his own narcissism and not out of any sense of public service.”

Bauer said if he does run it would only be if he has enough financial backing and a solid support team. “I’m not doing it all myself again,” he said.

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