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Harris Campaign Press Release - "The Candidate of Action" and "A Fighter for Working People": Kamala Harris Receives Key South Carolina Endorsements Following Rousing Debate Performance
Prominent Gun Violence Prevention Activist Reverend Sharon Risher and Four Other South Carolina Leaders Endorse Harris for President
Following a debate performance that displayed Kamala Harris' ability to prosecute the case against four more years of Donald Trump, prominent South Carolina leaders are endorsing Harris for President. Among Harris' new endorsements is Tiffany Gamble an Horry County Democratic Party activist who was the subject of a video produced by The Washington Post at the South Carolina Democratic Party convention about being an undecided voter. Reverend Sharon Risher, whose mother Ethel Lee Lance was killed during the tragic Mother Emanuel shooting, is an outspoken advocate for gun violence reform and has been a spokesperson for Everytown and Moms Demand Gun Sense In America is also endorsing Harris. In addition, Sumter County School Board member Brian Alston, community leader Elder James Johnson, and former Berkeley County Education Association (BCEA) President Barbara Bodison are endorsing Harris for President.
"I met several smart and capable candidates during the South Carolina Democratic Party's Convention, but I'm endorsing Kamala Harris because she's the only one with a clear vision for providing a quality education for all our kids," said Tiffany Gamble, 2nd Vice Chair of the Horry County Young Democrats. "From the moment she announced her candidacy, her focus has been on solving the everyday problems that working people face. Here in South Carolina she's laid out an agenda to raise educator pay, invest in our HBCUs, build a pipeline of Black educators, and pass the most significant middle class tax cut in a generation. Last night, Kamala showed America that she is strong, pragmatic, and a leader for the difficult times we find ourselves in, which is why I'm proud to endorse her campaign for President."
Tiffany Gamble is a resident of Conway, South Carolina. As 2nd Vice-Chair of the Horry County Young Democrats, she has worked with the Horry County Democratic party to engage and activate youth and millennial voters, specifically creating ties within communities of color. She was recently profiled as representative of undecided Black voters in rural South Carolina in a video produced by The Washington Post at the South Carolina Democratic Party convention.
"Kamala Harris is the candidate of action," said Rev. Sharon Risher, Gun violence prevention activist. " Congress has been hijacked by special interests and the NRA and Kamala is the only candidate who has detailed executive actions so that she can lead on preventing senseless gun deaths. I'm proud to endorse Kamala Harris because four years after my mother died as part of the Emanuel 9, I need a leader who is focused on real world solutions instead of ivory-tower debates."
Reverend Sharon Risher is a gun violence prevention activist whose mother, Ethel Lee Lance, was killed during the Mother Emanuel church shooting four years ago. Since then, Risher has been an outspoken advocate for gun violence reform and has been a spokesperson for Everytown and Moms Demand Gun Sense In America. Her advocacy work brought her to the White House, where she witnessed President Barack Obama sign executive orders pertaining to new gun laws.
"As the youngest elected member of the Sumter School District Board of Trustees, I'm proud to endorse Kamala Harris," said Sumter School District Board Member Brian L. Alston. "Last night she showed America that she's a fighter for working people who is unwavering in her commitment to build an economy that works for all of us. Her recently released plan to invest in HBCUs like Sumter's Morris College to increase STEM programming would be a major win for our rural communities. Here in South Carolina she has campaigned in areas of this state that haven't seen Democratic Presidential candidates in a generation. Her singular focus on practical ideas that make the lives of struggling families better sets her apart from a field consumed by purity tests and semantic arguments."
Brian Alston represents District 1 for the Sumter County School Board. He was the youngest candidate in the race when he was elected in 2018. Previously, he worked for the Department of Employment and Workforce as a Workforce Support Coordinator. A Morehouse graduate, Alston and an influential member of High Hills AME, Alston will help spearhead the campaign's HBCU organizing efforts in the Sumter region.
Others who have endorsed Harris include:
- Former State Representative and civil rights leader I.S. Leevy Johnson
- Bakari Sellers
- Senator Darrell Jackson
- Senator John Scott
- Representative Rosalyn Henderson-Myers
- Georgetown Mayor Brendon Barber
- Former Florence Councilman Billy D. Williams
- Marion Councilwoman Tassie Lewis
- Marion County NAACP President Reverend Marvin Hemingway
- Former Representative Brenda Lee Pryce
- Representative JA Moore
- Representative Pat Henegen
- Former Councilwoman Bernice Scott
- Councilwoman Erica Brown
- Former gubernatorial candidate Marguerite Willis
- Former Democratic nominee for Attorney General Constance Anastopoulo
- Berkeley County Democratic Chair Melissa Watson
- Emerge South Carolina co-founder Susan Riordan
- Marion County NAACP Education Chair George Gause
- Rev. Dr. Calvin Robinson, Pastor of Trinity Baptist Church
- Dr. Bennie T. Davis, Pastor of Greater Christ Temple Ministries in Marion
- Harris has also been endorsed by the Reckoning Crew, a group of predominantly Black women activists who have been organizing in South Carolina for almost thirty years.
Kamala Harris, Harris Campaign Press Release - "The Candidate of Action" and "A Fighter for Working People": Kamala Harris Receives Key South Carolina Endorsements Following Rousing Debate Performance Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/365396