David McCraw: Why I'm Running For SC Senate District 12

Welcome to “Why I’m Running,” a new forum in which we provide elected officials (and aspiring ones) with a chance to share their information and platform with our readers – unedited and unfiltered.  Whether we agree with your views or not, we want to make sure our readers get to hear from you directly.  

So if you’re running for office in South Carolina and want to communicate directly with voters, email us here with the subject line “Why I’m Running.”  Be sure to include your name, occupation and the office you are seeking – along with a recent head shot.

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Name: David McCraw
Occupation: Businessman
Office Held/ Sought: S.C. Senate District 12

I am David McCraw. I am not a politician. I am a businessman. And as a small-business owner, born and raised in Boiling Springs, South Carolina, who works tirelessly every day to make a living for my family and to do my part to create sustainable jobs for the residents of our area, I am ever frustrated by the current politicians’ failure to do even the simple things to make it easier to do this.

I am running for office because I believe our current Senator, Lee Bright, has forgotten what it means to be a representative of the people. I am running to help restore confidence in our government by being a friend, an ally, and an advocate for our district. I will listen closely to my constituents and, as accurately as possible, represent the opinions and wishes of my district rather than my own self-interests. And most of all, I will cast an honest vote on every issue, acting only to build a better future for our state, not to further any political career.

Since announcing my campaign in July, I have been investing this time not on producing commercials or publishing standard political rhetoric; but, rather, to knock on the doors of our residents and spend time with each of them in an effort to truly understand what their concerns are with their current government. In doing so, I have developed an even stronger conviction that I am the best candidate to bring the right mix of experience and new ideas with a fresh approach to the State Senate and this is why I am seeking the Republican nomination for District 12 – to meet the challenges that lie ahead.

This month, the General Assembly returned to Columbia for the second half of a legislative session that, to date, has produced very little in the way of progress for the citizens of this state. Partisan bickering and an attitude of self-promotion instead of cooperation has taken precedence over developing a plan to improve our roads, which ultimately means that you will not see any decrease in your tax bills this year. Sadly, our current State Senator for District 12, Lee Bright, has been a big part of the problem. While our roads crumbled, Bright was busy drafting legislation for the creation of an independent currency from our dollar and mounting a secession movement from our Union.

As a veteran of the United States Military, I simply cannot stand by idly and watch someone who was elected to represent the people of South Carolina denigrate this country and at the same time disrespect the service men and women from South Carolina who are currently serving our country or have served our country in the past. This insulting rhetoric is from a person who never served in the military or took the oath that our Veterans took to defend our country. I am not insinuating Bright is a bad person; I just believe that he is more concerned about furthering his own political future and less concerned about how those decisions affect the people in our community every day.

So today, I want to tell you about my plans for the future of our district and our state:

Lowering taxes. The answer to high taxes is simple…we can lower taxes by lowering the cost of government. Merely shifting taxes from one source to another is not the correct answer: We must identify ways to cut costs, thereby lowering the over-all tax burden of our state including our state income tax.

Promoting economic development. By recruiting new industry, we can create new and better paying jobs for the people in our district. More jobs mean a better, stronger economy. We need to make South Carolina attractive to businesses and make them want to make South Carolina their home. We do this by “rebranding our state” and I am committed to do that.

Defending 2nd Amendment rights. The assault on the rights of law abiding citizens to own and carry legal firearms is continuing. I will always stand up and advocate strongly for our 2nd Amendment freedoms.

Improve and strengthen our education system. Every child deserves a good education, whether it’s in a public, private, or home school; rural or urban. I believe how we educate our children in South Carolina should be decided on the local level, not by government bureaucrats in Washington.

Greater accountability, transparency, and ethics. As every vote our elected officials take is on the record, the budget process ought to be done in the open as well. We should strengthen our state ethics laws and demand that all campaign income and expenditures be disclosed while also publicly disclosing lawmakers’ sources of income.

Less government and greater individual liberty. I believe, like Ronald Reagan, limited government is better government. I will fight to reduce and cut unnecessary and wasteful government spending whenever possible.

Sincerely,

David McCraw
Boiling Springs, S.C.
www.McCrawForSenate.com

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SIC SEZ

David: Thanks for sharing your perspectives. I will be very interested to see what position you take on the proposed gasoline tax increase, and where you come down on the issue of expanded parental choice. 

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