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Neal Collins (politician)

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Neal Anthony Collins
Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives
from the 5th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
2014
Preceded byPhil Owens
Personal details
Born
Neal Anthony Collins[1]

(1982-07-06) July 6, 1982 (age 42)
Easley, South Carolina, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Residence(s)Easley, South Carolina, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of South Carolina School of Law (JD)
Harvard Extension School (ALM)
Furman University (BA)
OccupationAttorney

Neal Collins (born July 6, 1982) is a Republican member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, representing the 5th district. He was first elected in 2014, and re-elected in every subsequent election. In 2010, he was one of several candidates running for the open seat of 3rd congressional district of South Carolina in the House of Representatives, which was held by J. Gresham Barrett, but left to compete in the 2010 Gubernatorial election for the Governor of South Carolina.[2]

Early life and education

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Neal Collins was born in Easley, South Carolina in Pickens County. Collins attended Furman University and graduated in 2004 with a double major in Political Science and French. Collins later earned a Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2007. He has passed both the North Carolina and South Carolina bars. He has been in private practice for over sixteen years. Currently, he works for The Hendricks Law Firm practicing general law with a focus on family law in South Carolina. In 2020, he received a Masters in Liberal Arts from Harvard Extension School.[3]

Political career

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2010 Congressional Candidacy

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Collins announced his candidacy on July 4, 2009, in Easley in front of Merrell's Pizzeria.[4] Collins made numerous appearances at public gatherings, debates, and radio interviews as well as working tirelessly going door-to-door in the 3rd district of South Carolina which consists of nine counties (Abbeville, Anderson, Edgefield, Greenwood, Laurens, McCormick, Oconee, Pickens, and Saluda) and a part of a tenth (Aiken County).[5] Collins' emphasis on a back-to-basics approach to government under his platform "Responsibility, Recovery, Reform" includes such ideals as limited government, lower taxes, accountability of government, and elimination of nepotism. Collins lost the election after receiving 8.2% of the vote.[6]

2014 SC House District #5

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Collins announced his candidacy on March 19, 2014, in Easley, South Carolina after the retirement of state Representative Phil Owens. He won the primary with a majority of the vote, defeating Rick Tate and Harley Taton by a wide margin.[7] In the general election, he won without opposition.[8]

South Carolina House of Representatives

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In the 2016 legislative session, Collins proposed a bill that would strengthen the penalties for killing police dogs and horses.[9] He also co-authored a bill on moped law reform.[10]

Collins was one of only 18 state representatives to vote against the 2017 transportation bill, which would raise South Carolina's gas tax, and have the State Secretary of Transportation be chosen by the Transportation Commission. He instead proposed an amendment which would have allowed the governor to appoint the Secretary of Transportation.[11]

2016 SC House District #5

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Collins faced a primary challenge from Rick Tate, who he had defeated in 2014. Collins won the primary, and faced no opposition in the general election.[12]

2016 presidential endorsements

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Collins was an early supporter of Marco Rubio's 2016 presidential campaign, and was his campaign co-chair in South Carolina.[13][14] In the general election, Collins criticized Republican nominee Donald Trump, and said he would either vote for independent Evan McMullin or leave that part of the ballot blank.[15]

2018 SC House District #5

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Collins filed for re-election and faced primary opposition from Allan Quinn and David Cox. Collins and Quinn advanced to a runoff. Neal won the runoff election with 57.6% of votes.

2020 SC House District #5

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Collins filed for re-election and faced primary opposition from Allan Quinn and David Cox for the consecutive primary elections. Collins and Quinn advanced to a runoff. Neal won the runoff election with 52.8 percent of the vote.

2022 SC House District #5

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Collins filed for re-election and faced primary opposition from Clay Hamlett and Dennis Bo Roberts. Neal avoided a runoff election with 50.1% of votes in that election.

2024 SC House District #5

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Collins filed for re-election, and faced a primary challenge from Brandy Tarleton.[16] Neal won the primary election with 55.1% of votes.

References

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  1. ^ "South Carolina Sponsor Representative Neal Collins [R]".
  2. ^ "Blogger: User Profile: Neal Collins".
  3. ^ https://www.thescea.org/sites/scea/files/2023-04/neal-collins-statement-.pdf
  4. ^ "Easley's Collins joins race for Barrett's seat". The Easley Progress. Archived from the original on 2012-03-05. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  5. ^ "Collins for Congress". collins4congress.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  6. ^ "Meet the Candidates: Neal Collins". Conservatives of the Upstate. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  7. ^ SC - Election Results
  8. ^ SC - Election Results
  9. ^ Barnett, Ron (December 28, 2015). "Legislators prefile bill to stiffen penalties for killing police dogs". The Greenville News. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  10. ^ Kalsi, Dal (February 11, 2016). "Bill to strengthen SC moped laws up for debate Thursday". WHNS. Greenville. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  11. ^ Brown, Andrew (March 1, 2017). "Gas tax increase to pay for road fixes approved by S.C. House". The Post and Courier. Charleston. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  12. ^ Barnett, Ron (June 15, 2016). "Martin, Rice in runoff for Senate District 2; Collins wins House District 5". The Greenville News. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  13. ^ Roldan, Cynthia (July 26, 2015). "Marco Rubio first to file for South Carolina Republican primary ballot". The Post and Courier. Charleston. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  14. ^ Schreckinger, Ben (November 2, 2015). "Rubio and Trump's South Carolina showdown". Politico. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  15. ^ Coyne, Amanda (October 14, 2016). "Pickens GOP state representative Collins goes on anti-Trump tweetstorm". The Greenville News. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  16. ^ Putnam, Jeannie (April 3, 2024). "Greenville County primary election: Here's who is on the ballot June 11". Greenville Journal. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
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