People sometimes ask me why I ever decided to run for the South Carolina House of Representatives.
And the truth is simple: I had no political background. I had no idea how Columbia really worked.
But after everything our nation went through in 2020, I felt something rising inside me that I could not ignore.
It started with the mask mandates.
With cities burning after the death of George Floyd.
With an election in November that many Americans questioned.
With what happened in Washington on January 6th.
And with a country that suddenly felt like it was slipping away from the people who were supposed to govern it.
In 2021, I tried to understand what was happening. I read three books that changed me:
Trey Gowdy — It Doesn’t Hurt to Ask
Eric Metaxas — If You Can Keep It
Tony Woodlief — I, Citizen
I finished them and thought, “Someone needs to run for office who will fight for self-governance and for the people of South Carolina.”
So I started asking others to run. I even bought a sign that said:
If not now, then when?
If not you, then who?
And one morning, staring at that sign, I felt God speak directly to me:
You keep asking everyone else. Why not you?
That was the moment I knew:
I was supposed to run.
Not for power.
Not for influence.
But to represent the 41,000 people in my district who deserved a voice in Columbia.
And that brings me to the question I now ask every South Carolinian to consider:
If serving in the Legislature pays only $10,400 a year…
why are so many lawyers fighting so hard to win these seats?
Why would attorneys — many of them already successful — spend tens of thousands of dollars, raise political money, and campaign for a part-time job that pays less than a teenager earns at McDonald’s?
The answer leads us straight into the Lawyer Thread of Power, and today we’re going to pull on that thread until the truth shows through.
The Hidden Power of Legislative Privilege
The deeper I’ve looked into how the system in Columbia works, the clearer one thing becomes:
Lawyer-legislators do not serve for the salary.
They serve because the position gives them power — especially inside the courtroom.
One of the strongest tools they hold is something called legislative privilege.
It sounds innocent, but when you see how it actually works, you understand why the justice system in South Carolina is failing so many families.
When a lawyer is also a state legislator, judges are expected to give them special treatment that ordinary people never receive:
• Delaying hearings and trials because they claim a “legislative conflict.”
• Pushing deadlines months or years down the road.
• Having entire dockets rearranged around their schedule.
• Being excused from depositions and requirements others must follow.
And judges rarely deny these requests — because lawyer-legislators vote on whether those judges keep their jobs.
That is a thread of power, and it affects real people in devastating ways.
Family Court – Children Pay the Price
Picture a custody case where a child is in danger.
The hearing is scheduled.
One parent is begging the court for protection.
The other parent hires a lawyer-legislator.
Suddenly the hearing is postponed.
And postponed again.
And again.
The child stays in an unsafe environment because the courtroom is waiting on the legislator’s schedule — not the child’s safety.
Or imagine a mother seeking overdue child support.
The father’s lawyer-legislator delays every hearing.
Bills pile up.
Groceries get thin.
Her child pays the price for a privilege she’ll never receive.
Civil Court – Power Crushing the Powerless
A small business sues a large company for unpaid bills.
The company hires a lawyer-legislator.
Every time they approach trial, the legislator requests another delay.
The small business bleeds cash.
Witnesses disappear.
Stress destroys the owner’s health.
The larger company wins — not because they were right, but because they had access to a legislator’s privilege.
Or imagine someone injured in a car wreck, unable to work, drowning in medical bills.
The at-fault driver’s lawyer-legislator drags the case out for years.
The victim loses hope, money, and credit — all while justice sits on hold.
Criminal Court – The Most Dangerous Abuse
Now. imagine a repeat offender, a drug dealer, or someone charged with violence.
Their attorney is a lawyer-legislator.
Hearings get pushed back for months.
Evidence grows stale.
Witnesses move away.
Victims lose faith.
Worst of all?
The criminal remains free during all these delays.
And some commit new crimes while their cases wait for the legislator’s convenience.
This is not justice.
This is not fairness.
This is not the system our founders intended.
This is the lawyer thread of power in its rawest form: a privilege that protects the connected and endangers the public.
Why I am Sharing This
When I first ran for office, I was completely unaware of how things truly worked in Columbia.
Honestly, I was a lot like “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” — full of hope, believing in the goodness of our institutions, trusting that the system was fair and functional.
But once I got inside, I discovered things that were troubling, things I never would have imagined if I hadn’t seen them myself.
And once you know, you can’t un-know — you have to speak up.
Thank you for listening. Thank you for watching. And thank you for caring about the future of South Carolina.
Call to Action – Let’s Turn this State Around
Please SHARE this post publicly.
Help your friends and family understand what’s really happening.
Stand with me as we expose the truth, thread by thread.
