Steyer Campaign Press Release - Steyer's South Carolina Endorsers Call on Tom Perez to Ensure All Leading Candidates in Nevada and South Carolina Make the Debate Stage

(Columbia, SC, February 18, 2020) –– Today, prominent South Carolinian endorsers of Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer sent a letter to Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez, calling on the DNC to ensure more polls in Nevada and South Carolina are counted so that the voices of these two critical, diverse early states can be represented on the debate stage Wednesday night. The endorsers, including Chairman of the South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus Jerry Govan, Chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Black Caucus Johnnie Cordero, and Greenwood County Council Member Edith Childs, who is known for coining President Barack Obama's "fired up and ready to go" chant, cited a dearth of polling in the DNC's arbitrarily chosen qualification window. Below is the text of the full letter:

Chairman Perez,

We are extremely concerned that the qualification criteria for the next DNC debate in Las Vegas Wednesday night will effectively silence the voices of Nevadans and South Carolinians, the first two truly diverse states to participate in this pivotal election.

The previous two polling windows have been 56-58 days and this recent period window has been cut to 35 days. In the DNC's current window, there hasn't been a single qualifying poll conducted in Nevada or South Carolina and only one poll added. We fear that this trend will continue ahead of future debates, and will shut out contenders of the nomination who already enjoy wide support in these states, including Tom Steyer. This is especially problematic given the wide open nature of this race, in which we have seen major shifts happen in short periods of time.

One week before the DNC started the window, Tom Steyer's campaign met the criteria for the Nevada debate in two Fox News polls that showed his campaign at 15% in South Carolina and 12% in Nevada. This momentum was confirmed in more recent polls conducted by The Post and Courier and East Carolina University, which show Steyer as a leading candidate with 18% and 19% support respectively. Significantly, the Post and Courier poll showed Steyer earning 24% support amongst black voters, only six points behind first-placed Joe Biden.

Unfortunately, neither The Post and Courier poll nor the ECU poll meet the DNC's standards for qualifications. These polls undeniably demonstrate, however, that Tom Steyer has significant support in these diverse states and underscore the need for the DNC to ensure more qualifying polls in Nevada and South Carolina.

The number of qualifying polls and breathless media coverage of those polls in Iowa and New Hampshire is not lost on us. It would be a shame if the same amount of attention and polling was not paid to the next two early states.

Thank you for your attention to this issue.

Patrick Berry, Denmark Citizens for Safe Water

Detra Bruce, Denmark Citizens for Safe Water

Bianca Chardei, former America's Next Top Model contestant

Edith Childs, Greenwood County Council Member

Gilda Cobb-Hunter, Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives

Johnnie Cordero, Chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Black Caucus

Rosie Craig, Founding member of the Congaree Southeast Vista Guild

Chandra Dillard, Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives

Thomas Dixon, Pastor

Jerry Govan, Chairman of the South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus

Pat Henegan, Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives

Ronald Henegan, former Chair of the Marlboro County School Board

Chestnut Ilenia, Denmark Citizens for Safe Water

Liz Keitt, Member of the Orangeburg City Council

John King, Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives

Annie McDaniel, Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives

David Mitchell, Recreational leader

Harold Mitchell, former Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives

Deborah Morrow, Founder of Tell Them Tuesday

Russell Ott, Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives

Lois Roberts, Denmark Citizens for Safe Water

Leola Robinson-Simpson, Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives

John Scott, Member of the South Carolina State Senate

Shedron Williams, Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives