ANDERSON — Marshall Meadors has amassed twice the political war chest as his incumbent opponent, Kevin Bryant, according to information supplied by the candidates Tuesday.

Meadors, the Democratic candidate for South Carolina Senate District 3, has $150,000 in donations, plus a $50,000 loan. Bryant, a Republican, has $100,000, he said.

Both offered the information during the WRIX-FM/Independent-Mail political forum Tuesday at Anderson University.

During the hourlong program, aired live on the radio station, Bryant and Meadors went over their campaign themes: Education is a top priority for Meadors, and reduction in government waste is one of Bryant’s major issues, according to the candidates.Bryant, who is in his first term, said he’s “taken the floor during every debate to oppose pork-barrel spending.” He cited his record of working on passage of illegal immigration legislation, reduction of property taxes, proposing the death penalty for child rapists, backing tort reform and small business health insurance. He called for more transparency in government.

Meadors said he is running because “the people in District 3 need better representation in Columbia.”

The role of a senator, he said, is to listen to what constituents want and represent them. He said state government has grown 40 percent in the last four years, the state is the worst nationally in violent crime statistics, has 800,000 people uninsured or underinsured for health care, and that the Anderson County unemployment rate of 8 percent is the highest in the Upstate.

Both said they were against predatory payday lending tactics in the state. Bryant said he supported most parts of a bill to restrict predatory practices, but voted against it because a database it would require “creates a tremendous intrusion on privacy.” Meadors said legislation “is needed to protect the people of South Carolina.”

Meadors said his top priority would be education because a good system helps reduce crime and improves the community. He called for better funding of schools, especially pre-kindergarten. He said he supports home schooling, but not at the expense of money shifted from public education to pay parents.

“We are only as good as the public education system,” he said.

Bryant said he supports tax credits and vouchers for home schooling and charter schools. The state spends about $11,000 per student, yet test scores show academically, the education system remains mired near the bottom of national statistics, he said.

He said the state needs to “stop micromanaging schools from Columbia.”

Meadors said legislation that changed funding for schools needs to be revisited and that economic declines exacerbate schools’ financial needs. With the state facing a decline of $500 million in revenues this year, Meadors said he would fund education first, then “make targeted cuts” in other programs.

On increasing the state’s cigarette tax from 7 cents to 57 cents, as has been proposed, Meadors said he is for the change. Bryant said he is for it, but only if there is a comparable reduction in the state income tax.

Asked about replacing the lost revenue if a tax led to a decline of the number of smokers, Bryant said he fears the money that the cigarette tax would raise could create larger numbers of Medicaid recipients who would be vulnerable if the money is reduced in the future.

Meadors has proposed using the estimated $160 million raised by a 50-cent hike in the tax to pay for a health insurance program for the uninsured, and use some of the money to receive 3-for-1 matching Medicaid funds.

Bryant said he feared with an increased Medicaid program, a downturn “would pull the rug out from under” recipients.

Meadors said with the increased tax, the decline in smokers would be 4 percent in adults and 7 percent in teens who did not start smoking. The decline in cigarette tax revenues, he said, would be seen gradually, over a generation.

When asked about appointing magistrates, Bryant said one problem the nation has faced is “liberal, activist judges,” and that he would appoint magistrates based on the criteria that they would not change the law and the candidate’s character.

Meadors said he would look at a candidate’s record of service, education level and “quality of the individual.”

On the immigration issue, Bryant said he supported the final version of a bill, which requires employer accountability. He said earlier versions were too weak.

"I was not going to vote for something that was not real reform," Bryant said. He said he support legal immigration, but the country could not afford illegal immigration anymore.

Meadors said he also supported the immigration law because it held employers accountable. "Let's enforce it and give it a chance to work," he said.

Both candidates said balancing work and Senate duties would or is difficult, but each said he has worked out a plan to handle the job.