© 2024 South Carolina Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

‘It’s Time to Change the Trajectory.’ SC Senator to Speak Tuesday During Virtual DNC

Sen. Kimpson pictured in Feb. 2020 shaking hands with Joe Biden
Facebook.com/KimpsonForSC

The second night of the National Democratic Convention will feature South Carolina Senator Marlon Kimpson as one of 17 “rising stars” within the party.  They will deliver a joint speech on why leadership matters.

Kimpson, who represents Charleston and Dorchester counties, was an early supporter of Joe Biden. His endorsement of the former vice president came almost two months before the state’s Democratic Presidential Primary, this past February.

“I thought he was the best positioned Democrat to lead this country in a totally different direction.”

Kimpson said now is the time for the leadership of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and that he is proud to be a part of the team. His portion of the joint speech will include one or two statistics about issues impacting South Carolina and how metrics show the country is not trending in a good direction.

“People ought to have real growth in their wages and incomes; be able to afford healthcare.”

Kimpson was sworn into office in 2014, fulling the unexpired term of Robert Ford who resigned.  Since then he’s worked to improve several issues impacting his district and state. One issue he may mention in Tuesday’s address is the rising cost of housing.

“In Charleston County, the average home price is now approaching $350,000. I’m no mathematician, but the way I calculate that is you almost have to earn $50 an hour. Not many jobs pay $50 an hour.”

Kimpson said it’s time to reprioritize who we work for national and locally.

“We work for the people and most of our policies, from a national level and a local level, ought to be tailored to lifting people up and not tearing them down.”

Monday, another South Carolinian, Congressman Clyburn, spoke to how Joe Biden can unite and move the country forward. Live coverage of the DNC begins at 9PM.