By Derek Wallbank, CQ Staff

South Carolina Republican J. Gresham Barrett would ordinarily be considered a wide favorite to retain his 3rd District seat, given the district’s heavy conservative lean and his previous track record of easily shaking off would-be Democratic replacements.

But Barrett announced he would forego a chance at a fifth term in Congress to run for governor of South Carolina in 2010. Incumbent Republican Gov. Mark Sanford is term-limited.

The 3rd is a largely rural district that stretches along the northern half of the state’s western border with Georgia. It is reliably Republican; Barrett won his seat in 2002 with 67 percent of the vote, ran unopposed in 2004 and easily outpaced Democratic challengers in 2006 and 2008. Republican presidential candidate John McCain had his best showing in the state — 64 percent — in the 3rd.

CQ Politics rates the general election race as Safe Republican, so — not surprisingly — a large group of GOP contenders are considering a run for the seat.

That list includes a number of state legislators, including state Sen. Shane Massey and state Reps. Jeff Duncan and Rex Rice. Former U.S. Attorney James Galyean, physician Mike Vasovski, attorney Neal Collins and businessman Richard Cash, who owns a used vehicle business and a fleet of ice cream trucks, have each begun campaigning for the seat. State Rep. Michael Thompson had been considering a bid but decided not to run and endorsed Rice.

And then there’s Sam Wyche, a Pickens County council member who is considering a run but has not officially declared. Wyche is best known nationally as a former NFL player and coach who reached Super Bowl VII as a backup quarterback with the Washington Redskins and 21 years later coached the Cincinnati Bengals to Super Bowl XXIII.

Wyche said he’s “leaning towards probably not entering the game,” but would wait until after the high school football season concludes in November — he volunteers as the offensive coordinator for the Pickens High School Blue Flame — to make a decision. “If there’s not someone who’s clearly emerging, or a group of two or three, then maybe there’s somebody else out there, and maybe that’s me,” he said.

One South Carolina political expert said Wyche’s entrance would be a game-changer.

“Now there’s a guy with name recognition the other guys would have to buy,” said Chip Felkel, a Republican political consultant based in Greenville. “Let’s face it, we like celebrity in this country, and considering the field as it is now, he would at least have a position of prominence that these other guys might not.”

As it stands now, Felkel said, the race is “too muddled to call,” adding that he expects the current field of seven to thin out some time after New Year’s Day. The primary election is scheduled for June 8, 2010.

Federal Election Commission filings in the second quarter show Rice with a clear money lead, with $67,000 raised so far. Duncan is second with $40,000, followed by Massey with $30,000, Cash with $29,000, Galyean with $27,000 and Vasovski with $16,000. Collins launched his campaign July Fourth, after the filing deadline.

Democrats have coalesced around retired Air Force Capt. Jane Dyer, now a commercial pilot for FedEx, who has raised $27,000 so far.