COLUMBIA, S.C. — Candidates in the race to fill John Scott Jr.'s open District 19 seat spoke to the public on Thursday about their plans for the future of the area.
It was a packed room inside the Word of God Church in Columbia on Thursday, as hundreds gathered to hear from candidates vying to fill Senator John Scott's open seat after his recent death.
The six candidates were asked a slew of questions centered around their experience and plans for District 19.
A key point for many of them, including Johnnie Cordero, a political scientist, was sticking up for members of the community that may be overlooked by lawmakers.
"Bipartisanship is dead. Reaching across the aisle is an exercise in futility, and politically naive," Cordero said. "They can do anything they want, whether we show up or not. I'm not a politician, I'm a fighter."
Also in attendance was Kambrell Garvin, District 77 Representative in South Carolina's House of Representatives. He is the only candidate who is currently serving in the State House as a public official.
"Being able to transition from the House to Senate should be very seamless given that I'm already there, I'm already in the building, I already know the key players," Garvin said. "I think that it's very important that our community elects somebody that can certainly, on day one, be ready to lead, and service our interests."
Running independently is semi-retired physician, Doctor Michael Addison. He says he was told to get into politics by James Clyburn, who he ran against in the Democratic primary.
"I want to get $100 million in District 19 for businesses to come here or the businesses that are here, to expand through grants and small-interest rate loans. That's how you grow the community," Addison said. "As a conservative Democrat, I'm with the Republicans, I'm the Democrats, I'm with the Independents because this is our state."
Former prosecutor, longtime Columbia City Councilwoman and now private practice lawyer Tameika Isaac Devine says being a lifelong resident of the area gives her an advantage in connecting with her voters.
"Every single day there [is] legislation that [is] curtailing our rights, taking down our community," Devine said. "I think it's really important that we have somebody who is able to be up there and work with the other senators as well as the members of the House."
Chris Nelums was also in attendance on Thursday. The pastor and entrepreneur thinks real change will come from the community standing up for itself.
"We sit here and talk about 'I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that.' Before we get downtown, we got to get ourselves together here in that house," Nelums said.
Another non-politician running is Javar Juarez, a data analyst. His focus is also developing business in the district.
"There is a degree of poverty that exists in Richland County that is often not seen," Juarez said. "It is because of the lack of investments and the lack of equity that the community has because we're not really stakeholders in the process. You really don't get the kind of investment that you need to manage human capital."
Kizzie Small, a Republican candidate, did not attend the forum.
A special election to fill the General Assembly seat vacated by the death of state Sen. John Scott is set for Jan. 2, a week before the 2024 legislative session starts. The primary will be Oct. 24, followed by a primary runoff, if necessary, two weeks later.