With a crisis as complex as coronavirus, multiple government agencies and departments are involved in responding. There needs to be one qualified and experienced person who will make sure every relevant cabinet secretary, agency director and policy advisor are on the same page - day in and day out.
Jaime Harrison
COVID-19 has upended our economy.
The climate change issue is real and we are seeing its effects right here in South Carolina.
The American Dream is alive and well for some, but not all Americans. Here in South Carolina, rural hospitals are closing, schools are underfunded, and our coasts are threatened by offshore drilling. We need a Senator who's fighting to improve the lives of South Carolinians rather than focusing on interests in Washington D.C.
Caring about the long-term vibrancy of our coasts means transitioning ambitiously to cleaner energy, which would spur job growth in high-paying industries and cut air pollution.
With a common-sense approach, we can reduce waste, fraud and abuse, cut back on unnecessary bureaucracy and provide for the pillars of a strong economy and life in our state.
I am not in favor of implementing a Medicare-for-All, single payer healthcare system.
Every February, we reflect on and honor the achievements, struggles, and icons that comprise Black history. As a proud, Black man running for office and raising two young, Black boys in the South, I am acutely aware that I stand on the shoulders of giants.
People always want to be on the team that's winning.
We have seen communities cry out in pain, generation after generation, because of racism and police brutality.
Climate change is threatening ecosystems in South Carolina, while making it less safe and more costly to live along our coastline.
I broke the cycle of poverty thanks to education.
I was born into long odds. I know what the David versus Goliath story is. My life has been that.
The Democratic Party has to transform itself. We can't just pop up every two or four years and hope people will support us.
Small businesses are the heart and soul of South Carolina's economy - from our bait stores to our restaurants and barber shops.
There's Lindsey Graham 1.0 and then there's Lindsey Graham 2.0. I could not beat Lindsey Graham 1.0. That was the John McCain-Lindsey Graham.
Medicare should be allowed to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices on prescriptions.
Lindsey Graham has wavered on this, but I won't: We need to ban offshore drilling. A spill off our beaches would destroy jobs and harm the coastal environment that makes South Carolina beautiful.
Folks here in South Carolina want someone with a backbone, with a spine. Someone who's going to stand up for them and their families, regardless of who's in the White House.
We deserve a Senator who cares about our children's safety.
The history of Black Americans in South Carolina is riddled with trials and tribulations.
The coronavirus is not causing our health care problems in South Carolina. But it will likely make them worse - and increase the burden on working people - if we don't take action in a decisive way.
I can tell you as a black person in South Carolina whose grandparents grew up through Jim Crow, when you lose the courts and justice no longer becomes just, we're in a world of trouble.
No, I absolutely do not support defunding the police. But it's clear we have been investing too much in force and need to reinvest in understanding and serving our communities.
Am I a Democrat? Yes, I'm a Democrat. But at the end of the day, when I take the oath as a senator it won't be to do the bidding of the Democratic Party or a president in the White House. I will be there to fight for the people of South Carolina.
Democrats believe in a New South because no matter your race, immigration status, income, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity, we all have the same aspirations for high-quality education, jobs, neighborhoods, health care, and retirement.
I'm hoping that college students and young professionals in general will pay very close attention to what is being said by both parties and all the candidates in the parties and pick the best person that best reflects the values that we all have.
I grew up in Orangeburg, South Carolina, which has the proud distinction of being the home to two of the eight Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the state: South Carolina State University and Claflin University. When I was a kid riding around town with my grandfather, we often drove by the colleges.
My entire life, people have told me that I couldn't do certain things. They told me I couldn't go to college. They told me I couldn't go to Yale, Georgetown, couldn't end up doing much on Capitol Hill. Couldn't be party chair. And my response has always been, 'Watch me.'
I've picked butter beans, okra, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew. I've butchered pigs, chickens. We made our own sausage and pudding.
Protecting our kids is a sacred obligation.
No one helped my grandparents when a con man stole our house, or when I needed help paying for a plane ticket to get to college. But my community always had my back.
I know what it's like to lose your home. I know what it's like to be hungry. I know what it's like to lose a family member because of a lack of health care. So all of these things aren't just political issues for me. All of these things are personal to me.
I love Howard Dean.
I want to make sure that every kid, every young boy and young girl in this country gets the opportunity to live their American dream. That's what the role of being in Congress and being a United States senator is all about.
The Affordable Care Act is not perfect, and I would vote to build on its success while fixing what doesn't work.
You never know when you lend somebody a hand, what that means for the rest of their lives.
Hillary Clinton, who followed her heart to Arkansas, understands that the American Dream extends beyond the Mason-Dixon line and that South Carolina's motto, 'While I breathe, I hope,' applies to all.
We need to close the loopholes that allowed large corporations to abuse the Paycheck Protection Program.
Black business owners throughout America too often face bigger barriers to accessing capital.
Part of what makes South Carolina so beautiful is the land we conserve for wildlife and for future generations.
I'm a cartoon junkie. Love 'Avatar: The Last Airbender.'
We have to end cash bail.
To campaign in the South is a unique cultural experience. You go into the little church facilities and meet people, or you go to a spaghetti supper, and it's about talking and hugging and shaking hands.
Tom Perez has brought integrity, passion, and tenacity to every job he's ever had.
We are no strangers to hurricanes in South Carolina. These storms are part of life, especially in the Lowcountry and all along our coast.
We stand on the shoulders of giants - and that's something we can never forget.
Listen, running against Senator Graham is indeed a tough climb, but it is equally a hill worth climbing. I've faced things people have deemed impossible my entire life, and this is yet another journey where I prove that in America, the impossible is always possible.
We don't need more government, we just need the government we have to work smarter and more efficiently.
HBCUs have been a bedrock of the Black community since their founding, evolving into institutions of prodigious scholarship and activism, and educating African-Americans nationwide.
