Friday, July 31, 2020

Another Longshot Star in South Carolina: Adair Boroughs in CD2


I'm continuing to explore the Democratic talent recruited to run for Congress this year in the state directly to the south of us, and I'm impressed. Take a look at Adair Boroughs, running against the notorious Republican Joe Wilson in CD2:




She's willing to take the fight right up in Wilson's grille. I like that in a candidate, especially one running in a district that the Cook Political Report rates R+12. CD2 is the area in robin's egg blue below, and you might notice how most of the big city of Columbia is carefully gerrymandered out:




Here are some "fast facts" about the district provided on Boroughs' website, and they provide rich material for strategic political thinking:

South Carolina's 2nd Congressional District has a population of approximately 700,000 people
46% of eligible SC-02 voters cast ballots in the 2018 midterm election
75% of SC-02 is under the age of 65
25% of SC-02 is African-American
The 2nd district is majority women

If you've got volunteers and a ground game, those statistics offer a lot of room for turning things around, especially that wide pool of voters who haven't been voting. (As far as I can tell, incumbent Joe Wilson has never faced a strong Democrat before.) Aggressive voter registration, number one. Aggressive outreach, even in the Age of COVID, via phone-calling, texting, high-saturation social media. I get a tingle thinking about it.
















Clearly, Adair Boroughs is whip smart and a fighter and a highly trained lawyer who could be making big bucks but who chose instead to run a nonprofit to help people with legal problems who can't help themselves: "...with an eye toward supporting hard-working, low-income families like those she grew up with, Adair helped launch Charleston Legal Access, a nonprofit law firm that provides affordable legal services to those in the middle—those who don’t qualify for free legal services but cannot afford the high cost of private attorneys. Since its founding in 2016, CLA has put over $1.5 million back in the pockets of working-class families through its representation."

I have new respect for a rising class of Democratic talent in South Carolina. Adair Boroughs joins Moe Brown in the 5th CD (written about here a couple of days ago) and Joe Cunningham in the 1st CD (whom I profiled during his 2018 surprise win along the coastal strip of South Carolina including Charleston). Boroughs and Brown could join Cunningham in Washington next year.

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