Freedom of Choice

In 1973 the Supreme Court ruled the Constitution of the United States protects a woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion.  This has been the law of the land for almost 50 years now- established before most of the Justices attended law school.

The recent Dobbs decision is a direct assault on a woman’s right to choose and her basic freedom as an American to make decisions for herself. 

This is a direct violation of one’s individual liberties and goes against our values as a democracy.

I do not feel comfortable as a man making a medical decision for a woman- period.    

There is no other decision made by our government that is this invasive and there is no other decision that mandates what half of the population is required to do in a medical situation.  

My opponent has made banning a woman’s freedom of making her own choice the center point of his candidacy.  Yet ironically, he states about wearing masks, “We should all be free to choose and make our own informed medical decisions without government imposition.”  

The hypocrisy is deafening, and the lack of respect is astounding.

The recent decision is a huge setback but it’s a battle that has been lost and the war will continue until we’ve won.  In the legislature, I will fight to restore this constitutional right and fight to ensure liberty for all of our state’s citizens. 

Common Sense Gun Safety

We cannot stomach another mass shooting in our community and our country- one was one too many and now we see them happening far too often across the country.  Our community experienced this firsthand and showed a nation how to respond, but we must do more.  As a father of four boys, who drops kids off at school each day- I will fight hard to keep our children and families safe from gun violence. 

I support the 2^nd Amendment as it is written and I believe we can have common sense gun laws in place without infringing on ones rights. 

We need to have proper background checks to help keep guns out of the hands of those who shouldn’t have them.

We need to put in place extreme risk laws which allow family members and law enforcement to intervene if there is evidence someone poses a risk to themselves or others.

We need to close the Charleston loop-hole and not allow the completion of gun sales to go through until the background check is complete. 

We can do these things and more without infringing on the right to bear arms and we need to do this before the next innocent victim dies of gun violence. 

Improving Local Infrastructure

We continue to send our tax dollars to Columbia, yet our roads and bridges remain congested and in dire need of repair. Given the amount of tax dollars and commerce our area produces annually, it is time for us to start seeing our dollars at work.

Preserving our Natural Resources

There are many reasons we love the Lowcountry and our beautiful natural resources. I will fight to protect these qualities that make our area so unique and special. There is no compromise: offshore drilling must be banned and stay banned. We must combat flooding and other long-term effects of climate change. This should be an intergenerational fight and I will work every day to protect the Lowcountry.

Maintaining and Improving our Quality of Life

More people are visiting and moving to our area every day. The politicians in Columbia don’t appreciate how much money our tourism industry generates for this state. We need the state to invest more to help control and manage area growth, ease traffic congestion, and help preserve our natural beauty and quality of life.

Fighting for the Future

There is an old saying heard around coastal towns: “A rising tide lifts all boats.” This can be applied to many different areas of life and community. In South Carolina, we need to reform our education system and leave the low national rankings once and for all. Teachers deserve to be paid; students deserve to have access to the proper educational tools they need to excel; and parents deserve to have their voices heard. Our children depend on it and our future is beholden to it.