A list of Spartanburg politicians and what they stand for
SC State House
House District 33:
Travis Moore
Republican candidate
Moore lives in Roebuck, SC and is an attorney and member of the South Carolina Army National Guard—he has been on multiple deployments to Kosovo and Afghanistan. His campaign stated that he will “work to get South Carolina working again, reduce your tax burden, stand up for the sanctity of life and protect your Constitutional freedoms.”
Thomas Riddle
Constitution party candidate
Riddle lives in Spartanburg, SC and is for “the people and their rights.” His main policy positions include repairing back roads, helping students and teachers by fighting “for more books, one to one devices as well as updating out date computers and other electronics,” and fighting for the disabled and special needs communities.
House District 35:
Bill Chumley
Republican incumbent
Chumley is a business owner from Spartanburg, SC who has been in the State House since 2011. His sponsored bills in the 2019-2021 term include a “Fetal Heartbeat Protection from Abortion Act,” and a bill that prohibits “State Agencies Or Political Subdivisions” from approving plans “that would deter, prohibit, or impede the construction or use of infrastructure used to facilitate Atlantic ocean marine seismic testing to locate reserves of oil and natural gas.”
Helen Pendarvis
Democratic Challenger
Pendarvis is a paralegal from Duncan, SC. This will be her second run against Chumley, to whom she lost 35% to 65% in 2018. Her vision for her district includes “clean and safe rivers, lakes, and streams for our children to enjoy. Equitable distribution of funds for education, and more low income housing for those that make more than minimum wage but not enough to afford the current housing in the area.”
SC State Senate
Senate District 11:
Glenn Reese
Democratic incumbent
Reese lives in Inman, SC, has been a teacher and sport commentator and is the owner of the Spartanburg Krispy Kreme. He has held this state Senate seat since 1991. He has stated that his guiding principles include keeping “a lid on spending and taxes,” promoting “a positive business environment without government barriers that prevent successful economic growth,” working “for affordable health care solutions for all people,” and keeping “roads safe by working with local and state transportation officials.”
Josh Kimbrell
Republican challenger
Kimbrell is a local radio host and businessman from Boiling Springs, SC. He was the chairman of the Spartanburg GOP, ran in the 2018 Republican primary for SC’s 4th U.S. house district and has been a commentator on Fox News multiple times. His campaign website states that he will “work to make it easier for businesses to do business in South Carolina by cutting to through the red tape, holding state government accountable, ending wasteful spending and sweetheart deals that send jobs out of our community, and reforming a tax system that is one of the highest in the Southeast.”
Senate District 12:
Scott Talley
Republican incumbent
Talley is an attorney from Spartanburg, SC who served in the SC house from 2000-2008 and has held his current seat since 2016. His campaign website states that in his 2017-2021 senate term he has worked towards “meaningful ethics reform,” including an “open checkbook” bill he authored that would put all government expenses at the local and state levels into a searchable database for the public to see,” “a bill to mandate the disclosure of all contributions to campaigns and dark money groups to bring greater transparency to campaigns” and “DOT reform that ensures total transparency within the Department of Transportation.”
Dawn Bingham
Democratic challenger
Dr. Bingham is an OB/GYN and professor from Spartanburg, SC. Her campaign website states that she will advocate for “public health measures, protecting coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, and expanding access to care,” improving public education through better “per-student spending,” and reducing class sizes, and growing the local economy by ensuring a livable wage for workers and creating new jobs to replace those lost during the pandemic.
U.S. House of Representatives
William Timmons
Republican incumbent
Timmons is an attorney and entrepreneur from Greenville, SC. He previously served in SC state Senate District 6 from 2017 to 2019 and has held his current seat since 2019. During his 2019-2021 term, he has fought for legislation to “require Congress to balance the budget, defund Planned Parenthood,” support the families of fallen veterans, “strengthen national defense, and promote school choice.”
Kim Nelson
Democratic challenger
Nelson is a public health professional from Greer, SC. Her main goals include making our healthcare work for everyone instead of just “insurance and pharmaceutical executive” by decreasing the cost of medication and making sure “that every American has access to healthcare,” protecting the “immense natural beauty and resources” that can be found in our state for future generations.
She has stated she will “stand up to corporations and fight for the American working class.” and has said that “that means making sure that corporations are paying their fair share in taxes, raising the federal minimum wage, guaranteeing paid family leave, and closing the gender-wage gap.”
Michael Chandler
Constitution party challenger Chandler is from Inman, SC. He has previously run for this seat in 2016 and the seat for SC’s 5th congressional district in 2018. His main objectives include decreasing our trade deficit, lowering unemployment by getting illegal immigrants out of the country through harsher sentences for those who employ them, doubling time spent in jail in order to “cut the crime rate in half and provide a sense of justice to the victims,” and “eliminating the Internal Revenue Service.”
U.S. Senate
Lindsey Graham
Republican incumbent
Graham is from Seneca, SC and was an attorney and a member of the Air Force from 1982 to 2015. Previously he has held seats in the 2nd SC house district from 1993 to 1995, SC’s 3rd U.S. house district from 1995 to 2003, and has held one of the two Senate seats in South Carolina since 2003.
During his multiple terms in both houses of congress he has promoted a bill “to ban abortions after 20 weeks.” The only exceptions would be in cases of rape, incest or protective measures for the mother.Graham has also supported interventionist foreign policy and has approved judicial nominations from both republican and democratic presidents.
Jaime Harrison
Democratic challenger
Harrison lives in Columbia, SC. He has worked for Jim Clyburn as the director of floor operations, The Podesta Group as a lobbyist and was an Associate Chair of the DNC. Some of his main policy positions include “extending health care to those who cannot afford it,” “universal broadband access,” ensuring that poor and rural schools get the resources they need so that “all kids can get a good education, no matter where they live,” and expanding coronavirus relief.
Compiled by Cameron Carsten
