Vincent Sheheen: To Everything There Is A Season

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by VINCENT SHEHEEN

My dear friend Sen. Thomas McElveen recently announced his retirement from the South Carolina Senate, to the surprise of many.  His decision is a tremendous loss for our state, but surely a gain for his family and friends who will get to spend more time with him.  Thomas was the kind of leader we need in government, a centrist who put the good of his state and district before partisan or personal interests.

Sen. McElveen’s senate seat, District 35, was recently redrawn and now includes significant portions of Sumter, Kershaw, and Richland Counties as well as a small area of Lee.  I was very much looking forward to Thomas being my senator here in Camden.

Since his announcement, many friends have called me from all four counties, and other parts of the state, encouraging me to run for this senate seat. And in fact, it is an enticing opportunity.  The seat tilts significantly toward a Democratic candidate (something I never experienced in all my campaigns), but the seat is still a true swing district that will most likely elect a centrist candidate.  My friendships and experiences in Sumter, Richland, Lee, and, of course, Kershaw make the opportunity look even more fun. 

I write this letter to let my friends and others who are interested know that my service in the South Carolina Senate is done, and that I will not seek this opportunity. Here’s why:

HOME.  I love South Carolina immensely, but I love Camden even more.  When I was a state senator, I always tried to tackle the big issues that would help our whole state. That’s why I passed and wrote bills and legislation that did things such as: remove the Confederate Flag, Restructure State Government, push four-year old Kindergarten across our State, create the Office of Inspector General, reform our State Pension, increase road funding and repair, and much more. It was exciting work and I loved it.  BUT, during the last four years I have enjoyed spending my time and energy focusing on a place I love even more than South Carolina – my hometown.  I have so enjoyed working in the private sector in Camden helping to renew downtown, partnering to create new businesses, renovating wonderful old buildings, and spending time with fellow entrepreneurs to envision a thriving city that will attract visitors from all across our state, country, and the world.

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STATE POLITICS HAS CHANGED.  The divisions and partisan excesses that have held our national government hostage for some time now are increasingly doing the same at the state level.  When I arrived in Columbia in 2000 as a young legislator there were many, many state leaders who thought radical partisanship was silly and believed in putting the parties well behind the interests of the State and their districts.  With the increasing nationalization of politics and voters’ failure to put the person over the party, that attitude has changed tremendously.  I never wore a partisan coat comfortably, and I would not enjoy a front row seat watching partisan politics continue to dominate our State.  For years a small number of legislators on both sides held our fingers in the dike of partisanship.  But our numbers steadily decreased, and now most are now gone. I am so thankful for the few who remain doing that very important work, but my time fighting that exhausting battle has passed.

LIFE.  From my late twenties until my late forties, I served as a state legislator.   The one thing I didn’t realize until I left was how hurried and frantic that life had become.  Driving back and forth to Columbia while also tending to constituents across multiple counties is wonderful, but hard, work.  Enjoying time with my growing family and my friends, and not feeling hurried, is a blessing and luxury that I simply am not prepared to give up at this moment. 

I was taught to admire and be thankful for public service and public servants. And I still believe in that ideal with all my heart.  I will always look for opportunities where I can be useful, and I hope to serve the public again in some capacity, sooner rather than later. But my focus is at home in Camden with my friends and family.

So what do I hope to see in my future state senator, whoever that may be?  A centrist who believes in making government better, rather than in spouting radical, national political talking points.  A person who knows how to build bridges toward other groups instead of tearing them down.  An elected official who believes that government can be part of the solution instead of having to be part of the problem.  A leader who cares about helping individuals one-on-one.  And most importantly, a person who believes in putting our state’s interests above those of political parties.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Vincent Sheheen is an attorney and businessman residing in Camden, S.C. He served in the S.C. Senate from 2004 to 2020 and in the S.C. House of Representatives from 2000 to 2004. Sheheen is also co-host of the popular Bourbon in the Backroom podcast.

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