SENECA — Billing herself as a future change agent in Columbia and representative for all Senecans, Democrat Jody Gaulin announced her candidacy for the South Carolina House of Representatives on Friday.
The Oconee County Democratic Party hosted the event at Seneca High School after Gaulin filed for candidacy Thursday to try to unseat District 2 Rep. Bill Sandifer (R-Seneca).
“I have a reputation for being practical, having common sense and being a bit of a butt-kicker if I have to be,” Gaulin told a crowd of 75 in the school cafeteria. “I speak truth to power. That skill will serve me well in Columbia.”
Gaulin told The Journal before the event she wants to give District 2 constituents a “real voice” of representation in Columbia. Gaulin said she believes people want change in state government.
“Somehow people get a little bit in a bubble when they’ve been in Columbia so long,” the Seneca High graduate said. “We need a fresh voice, a person like me with fresh ideas and a person who knows what the priorities are.”
Gaulin’s priorities are accountability in Columbia, infrastructure, public education, health care and the environment.
She said the failed V.C. Summer nuclear power project, state pension fund debt and rejection of Medicaid expansion are examples of what she sees as mistakes by the Republican Party in South Carolina.
Gaulin criticized Sandifer for supporting legislation that she said led to the V.C. Summer project’s failure.
Sandifer was a proponent of the Base Load Review Act, passed in 2007, which allows utilities building a nuclear facility to recoup interest costs during construction.
“My opponent was a key leader in the house to get the Base Load Review Act in the House and indeed push that on the floor,” Gaulin said. “That set in motion the entire disaster that later happened.”
With a 38-year career in industrial management, Gaulin said she brings skills learned in Corporate America to politics.
Gaulin was the first female plant manager at a local plant, supply chain director and quality control manager.
Oconee County Democratic Party chairwoman Paulette Keffas-Chassin said Gaulin is a great candidate because she is “appealing to all Oconeeans.”
“This is not about party,” Keffas-Chassin said. “This is about helping the people of Seneca and District 2 who are in such need of so many things. Jodi was born and raised here and has a business background. She has waited her entire life to represent the people in Columbia.”
Keffas-Chassin echoed Gaulin’s own words on the question of party politics Friday. Gaulin said she is a candidate who will put South Carolina and Oconee County above party.
“I am a Democrat,” Gaulin said. “I’m not ashamed of being a Democrat. I represent Democratic values, but I’m going to represent the people the right way, too.”
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Posted on April 4, 2018
By Justin Lee Campbell
The Journal
