I’ve said from the start that this campaign is for anyone who cares more about paying the bills than Washington’s political fights. It doesn’t matter whether you voted for Donald Trump, Lindsey Graham or someone else.
I mean that. Last week in Aiken, I met with a room full of Republicans and independents. One man told me he’d voted Republican his entire life, going back to Reagan, and had never cast a ballot for a Democrat. Still, he came to hear me out. He wanted to know whether I’d really listen.
I’ve spent 18 months listening on the campaign trail, and two decades before that in my exam room.
I never planned to go into politics. I’m a pediatrician and a mother of three. I’ve cared for children whose parents had to choose between buying groceries and getting an inhaler. I’ve also answered calls from frightened parents in the middle of the night. Medicine taught me to show up, listen and make difficult decisions under pressure.
I’ve visited all 46 counties. In Barnwell, I sat on a pickup’s tailgate with farmers whose families have worked the land for generations and who’ve been hit hard by tariffs. In Ridgeland, I met veterans grieving friends lost to suicide and hoping the war in Iran will end. In Marlboro County, I met a young boy growing up far from a hospital. And in Myrtle Beach, a retired Marine with 26 years of service and a lifelong Republican came to an event after someone urged him to go. He told me afterward that he’d made his first political donation.
When I ask people when they last saw a senator in their hometown, they laugh. They deserve better than that.
This week, Fox News shifted our race to a toss-up. Former Republican Gov. David Beasley endorsed me, and more than 100 Republican leaders in South Carolina have joined the campaign. We don’t agree on everything, but they believe I’ll put South Carolina ahead of party politics and special interests.
I’m deeply sorry for Darline Graham’s loss of her brother. But a Senate seat isn’t something to inherit. Washington insiders chose her, and she has said she is “not that informed” about national security while the country is at war. South Carolinians need a senator who’s prepared for the job.
Here’s what I’m promising: I’ll be an independent voice and stand between South Carolina and Washington, even when my own party gets things wrong. Democrats spend billions without checking whether programs work. Republicans pour billions into endless wars and corporate handouts. Meanwhile, the national debt has reached $40 trillion.
My Taxpayer Pledge starts with Congress. I’d bar members from trading stocks, end their taxpayer-funded pensions and stop their pay during government shutdowns. I’ll oppose tax increases for families earning less than $500,000, make No Tax on Tips and No Tax on Social Security permanent, and end special tax breaks for data centers.
I’ve also promised to serve no more than two terms. This seat doesn’t belong to a family or a political party; it belongs to you. If I break my word, voters can fire me in six years.
I’m asking South Carolinians to hire a senator who will show up, listen and get to work for them.
