COASTAL OBSERVER

Russell Fry doesn’t want to shut down the federal government.

But the congressman from South Carolina’s 7th District told fellow Republicans this week that he voted against a continuing resolution that would keep the doors open because he doesn’t want to lose an opportunity to curb illegal immigration and cut spending.

Fry, a former state representative, led a field of seven candidates to capture the GOP nomination in 2022. He avoided a runoff with 51 percent of the vote. He had the endorsement of former President Donald Trump in the effort to unseat Rep. Tom Rice, the incumbent who was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.

Fry is seeking a second term. He was in New Hampshire last weekend campaigning for Trump ahead of that state’s primary.

Fry expects a primary challenge from Rodney Berry, a former member of Rice’s staff who is the former administrator of Dillon County. Mal Hyman, a professor at Coker College, will seek the Democratic Party nomination. He lost in the 2018 primary.

“Georgetown was so instrumental two years ago in winning the nomination without a runoff,” Fry told the county Republican Club. “We have to get up again, not just for a scrubby freshman congressman like me, but for the president, for the Senate, for the future of this country.”

In those contests, Republicans will focus on the economy and immigration, he said. While the Democrats focus on abortion and the Jan. 6 riot, Fry thinks the GOP’s issues have appeal across party lines.

“The American people are with us, and that’s why I think, ultimately, we will win this argument and we’ll win this issue,” Fry said of immigration.

He voted against a continuing resolution last week that extends government funding into March because it didn’t include immigration reform or spending cuts.

“I don’t want a government shutdown,” Fry said. “It backfires on Republicans all the time.”

But it provides leverage.

“The House has the power of the purse. If we’re not going to use it, what’s the point of even having a House of Representatives?” he said.

On immigration, “Russell Fry’s perfect plan” would start with the impeachment of Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of Homeland Security. 

“The man has come before Congress and said the border is secure. Do you think the border is secure?” Fry said.

Step two would be to enforce existing law.

“This is something that’s out of our control,” he said “You detain and control. That’s the law.”

The third step would reform the process “that this administration has manipulated and twisted,” Fry said.

That includes restricting the ability to use parole authority to grant temporary status to migrants for humanitarian reasons. It also includes limiting asylum claims.

Fry cited figures from the Obama administration that showed only 15 percent of asylum claims are legitimate.

The continuing resolution is also an opportunity to cut spending, Fry said.

“We are propping up post-COVID acceleration of spending,” he said. “We’re continuing not only the money, but the policies. And so I think we don’t have to cut it all in a day, but we have to start to bend the arc.”

Although he was speaking to a sympathetic audience of about 70 people, Fry said he hears support elsewhere.

“When you have Democrats come up to me, just man-on-the-street, just open up to me and say ‘I have never voted Republican in my life, but I’m going to this year,” Fry said. “That makes me think we’ve got a real shot to fix this country.”