I was appointed as Foreman to the State Grand Jury directed to conduct South Carolina’s longest public corruption investigation. The investigation was noted by The State newspaper as “a unique achievement in state politics in the modern era”. In my role as foreperson, I served as spokesperson for the State Grant Jury during proceedings, and was responsible for signing and presenting indictments and verdicts to the court on the jury’s behalf. The investigation resulted in a number of sitting legislators being indicted for wrongdoing and relieved of their offices by the Governor. I supported the production of a State Grand Jury Report that was released to the public, focused on dark money, campaign finance reform, ethics reform, and pay-to-play politics.

I will continue my focus on dark money, campaign finance reform, public corruption and ethics reform at the federal level, making sure that the US Senate strengthens its transparency, accountability and democratic processes.

I will work to pass legislation that provides access to health care for all, with a sound strategy for protection of public health in the face of current and future pandemics. I will work to expand Medicaid and support means to advance universal health coverage. I will support expansion of free clinic access, and prioritize interruption and reduction of incidence of domestic violence, gun violence and mass shootings as public health emergencies.

I have spent the past year working with statewide and national partners to ensure that all South Carolinians can exercise their right to vote without undue burden. I will continue to support the two key federal voting rights bills – the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, joining the core group of Senators working to push the Freedom to Vote Act over the finish line. I will support the Preventing Elections Subversion Act, a bill introduced by Senator Warnock to combat voter suppression efforts.

My foreign policy goals include addressing global threats like the Russia-Ukraine conflict, acting to cap global warming, and working to halt current and future pandemics, all while continuing to enhance the global standing of the US.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict has not only spawned death and displacement – it poses a threat to our economy and others as seen through its impact on prices of gas and other commodities. It emboldens other nation-states to threaten the sovereignty of neighbors and risks escalation into a nuclear conflict. I support Ukraine, NATO, the EU and other neighbors in the region, and support a stance for peaceful engagement and self-determination for sovereign states to maintain peace and security

The impact of COVID19 Pandemic on our economy was profound. Many lost their jobs and many businesses closed. We are now in the rebuilding process, even as we struggle with inflation, high prices and uncertainty. But we have faced moments like this before in our history and have faced them successfully, by working together. I see the federal government as a partner in helping to right the ship. The American Rescue Plan and the Infrastructure bill brought billions into South Carolina, and members of the South Carolina Association of Counties and the South Carolina Municipal Association have been clear on how meaningful that funding has been to supporting businesses, big and small, make those jobs possible. I will support federal legislation that brings funding to South Carolina, legislation like replenishment of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.

I support our state’s five top industries: agriculture, aerospace, automotive, advanced manufacturing and tourism, and look to increase ways that small and large businesses can be supported by repaired supply chains and increased incentives and training.

I support international trade policy that opens markets for South Carolina goods. I support trade policy that includes the following for South Carolina workers and workers in our trade partner markets:

1. minimum floor of occupational health and safety regulations
2. an “upward harmonization” of regulatory standards and actual practice
3. inclusion of employers so that they have formal responsibility and liability for violations of the standards
4. effective enforcement of national regulations and international standards
5. transparency and public participation
6. recognition of disparate economic conditions among trading partners and provision of financial and technical assistance to overcome economic
7. disincentives and lack of resources
8. continued actions by non-government actors (NGOs), including the workers themselves and civil society organizations. Also uphold strong environmental standards are protected in homes and communities from ecological damage by unseemly business practices.

I will focus on federal legislation that protects South Carolina women from sexual harassment in the workplace and domestic violence – a critical need as our state was #1 in domestic violence murders for a number of years in a row. Women of color are disproportionately impacted by this violence. I will support the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would codify Roe v. Wade, so that the personhood of women, girls and femmes has the protection necessary for them to pursue an education, remain, rejoin or excel in the workforce.

While I support the 2nd Amendment, I recognize that the plague of violence is only intensifying, from the gun violence that ranges from mass shootings like those in Uvalde, Buffalo, at Pulse, Mother Emanuel, or Sandy Hook, to the domestic violence murders in which our state ranked #1 for a number of years, to the community gun violence that steals the lives of our youth.

As a Senator I would declare gun violence a public health state of emergency. In response I would support common sense gun legislation that most American agree on: requiring background checks, addressing the issue of ghost guns, placing restrictions on assault weapons and gun access by those with mental health issues or who have been convicted of domestic violence, stalking or sexual harassment; closing the Charleston loophole.

It is also critical to address the issues of economic uncertainty, and to promote a sense of well being and community belonging that prevents radicalization and violence. We do this by investing in communities to address poverty, housing insecurity and mental health. We also need to monitor the ‘dark web’ to be able to identify and disrupt planners of violent assaults before they occur. I would support the Domestic Terrorism Act of 2022, which was passed in the US House days after the Buffalo shooting, but stopped in the US Senate.

My priorities in environmental policy dovetail with domestic energy policy during this time, again, partially thanks to the war. I am committed to the development of alternative energy sources, in order to reduce the negative impacts to our environment. I will advocate to support industries that need help making this transition. I am also committed to complete the task of providing clean water to every South Carolinian, and improving air quality through further investment in public transportation and reduced toxic emissions.

I will support legislation that recognizes past harms and offers a new day through redress. I will support a partnership with countries that were part of the global slave trade to determine appropriate remedies to all who were harmed by that institution. I will work with federally recognized tribes and state recognized tribes to see that Native Americans have improved access to health care and services, and that tribal lands are protected.

I am for making sure that our workforce is well educated, well prepared, well paid, and able to engage in negotiations for their salaries and working conditions. I will support a $15 an hour minimum wage, and the right to collective bargaining. I want to see paid leave and an end to racial and gender wealth gaps. I will support efforts to help small businesses, which are the lifeblood of South Carolina life, be successful and multigenerational throughout our state.

Our young people and our seniors, bookends in our communities, deserve the support of investment and resources that offer a bright future from sunrise to sunset. We need young people to have a chance at building that bright future, so I am committed to strengthening public education and reducing or forgiving the burden of student debt. For Seniors, I will work with organizations advocating for a 2 Social Security check policy, allowing widows and widowers to continue to receive some or all of the benefit their spouse worked a lifetime for, a move that will save many from falling into abject poverty.

In an effort to improve the effectiveness of federal legislation and policy, I will recommend a federal advisory group composed of Families impacted by Incarceration. This group will be composed of formerly incarcerated persons, family members impacted by incarceration, and allies who have provided education and serves to currently incarcerated persons. The group will be invited to review and comment on bills designed to impact criminal justice, prison reform, and other areas, such as restoration of voting rights, law enforcement accountability for police, conditions in prisons and detention centers and bail reform. I will also work for passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

I support providing long and short term federal efforts to provide more affordable home ownership and high-quality rental housing options for South Carolina residents, especially seniors, the disabled, veterans, the unhoused and low-income families. I am committed to implementing federal policies that help prevent eviction and foreclosure, such as rent and mortgage relief. I support interruption of housing discrimination and of substandard housing practices, such as lead paint, infestations, and worse. I am committed to combating housing practices and policies that result in gentrification. Investing in repairs, weatherization and climate resistance in our current housing stock, and supporting renovation of historic houses as residences would address the need.

We want to be an America that is inclusive and welcoming to people who bring energy, ingenuity and vibrancy to our national fabric. I believe in providing protection for properly vetted asylum seekers and refugees from sex trafficking, intimidation, political violence and persecution. I will work to see that separation of families, and ‘kids in cages’ never happens again. I will support legislation that improves our immigration system, so that there is protection for young people brought here as children, as streamlined immigration process, and options for others who have not yet received documentation. While working to protect our borders, I will also work with other nations to do what we can to improve human rights and other living conditions there, so that people can have a bright future in their hope country.

Communities in Fairfield County, Allendale, Denmark and Jasper are among the South Carolina areas that need support and investment the most. They have lost hospitals, suffered the debaucles of VC Summer and the loss of Westinghouse. Their main streets are hollowed out and in need of new energy. I will commit to continuing the support that was achieved through the Infrastructure bill and ARPA funds, providing the long overdue support for infrastructure and broadband that these communities need.

As a pro-inclusion candidate, I am committed to providing the federal protections necessary to insure that all Americans can freely participate in society, benefit from services they pay taxes in, and are able to achieve happiness and be contributors to our economy. Members of the LGBTQ+ community, be they civilians, active duty military or veterans, must be recognized as equally entitled to the constitutional protections that we all enjoy. I will support the Equality Act which will provide strong legal protections and ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identify in employment, housing, health care, and education in all states, including South Carolina.

As the daughter of an Army veteran, the niece of veterans from other branches of the Armed services and the mother of an Active Duty member of the military, I recognize the critical role that the military plays in securing our freedoms here and abroad. They all deserve a strong future. I want to make homeless veterans a thing of the past, by providing better access to and connections with services that they need. I will support the Improving Care for Veterans Act. I will act to enhance and protect South Carolina’s military bases and to see that military families have the highest quality housing, medical care, training and support services.

My priorities in domestic energy policy include divesting from receiving Russian energy sources, due to the current war they are waging on Ukraine, capping federal gas tax to bring down gas prices. We understand that Putin and other leaders of autocratic regimes rely on global markets of oil and gas to prop up their power. When we divest from these resources that give them power, not only do we build up energy independence and bring down energy prices here at home, we also restrict these bad actors of the resources that allow them to trample on human rights in their own nation and in others.