Political candidates in South Carolina disagreed sharply this week over whether the state should legalize video poker.

At a political forum Tuesday at the Charleston County Library in Charleston, South Carolina, USA, opposing State Senate candidates sparred over the issue, according to media accounts of the forum.

Incumbent State Senator Robert Ford, a black Democrat who represents State Senate District 38, and challenger Scotty Sherriff, a white Republican, were the adversaries on the subject, the accounts stated.

After a discussion between the candidates about how to raise more tax revenue, Ford said if re-elected he will push to legalize video poker and other forms of gambling in South Carolina in order to raise $700 million in new tax revenue for a state struggling to pay its bills, the accounts stated.

“Instead of cutting the budget, we have to add income,” Ford was quoted saying.

Sheriff strongly rebuffed the suggestion, the accounts stated.

“I don’t think poker is the way to help our economy,” Sheriff was quoted saying.

Sheriff added that helping small businesses in the state to thrive would be a better way to raise revenues than by legalizing gambling, the accounts stated.

The South Carolina Supreme Court in the year 2000 upheld as constitutional a law passed by the state legislature banning video poker.

Since that time, there have been numerous news reports of illegal video poker continuing in the state, and occasionally, there are arrests.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)