Catherine Templeton in 2018 SC Governor's race
On Abortion:
Define personhood from conception; no exceptions for incest
Catherine Templeton has changed her position on a bill that would effectively ban all abortions in the state, saying she now supports the effort despite her earlier concerns it does not include an exception for victims of incest. Earlier in the campaign,
Templeton had distinguished herself from the rest of the GOP field by saying she believes there should be an exception for incest. That stance earned a rebuke from the bill's supporters who excoriated the candidate for being insufficiently pro-life.
In a tele-town hall, a caller asked Templeton about her position on the Personhood bill. "I would support any law in South Carolina that would reduce the number of abortions," Templeton responded. A Templeton campaign spokesman confirmed the
candidate has shifted her stance on the issue. "While campaigning, Catherine Templeton was asked to pray about her support for life and consider making no exceptions," the spokesman said. "It may not be the politically correct answer, but so be it."
Source: Post and Courier on 2018 South Carolina governor race
Feb 27, 2018
On Budget & Economy:
I took a buzz-saw to government
Templeton's visit to her newly opened Upstate campaign office in Greenville was the first of four stops that she planned to make during a whirlwind tour of the state. She also was scheduled to hold a telephone town-hall meeting with voters Monday night.
Standing with her husband, three children and about two dozen supporters in Greenville, Templeton used an electric saw to cut a ribbon in her campaign office in the Green Gate Office Park on Woods Lake Road.
"I took a buzz-saw to government" while leading two state agencies under former Gov. Nikki Haley, Templeton said.
The 47-year-old is seeking elected office for the first time. She said the state is plagued by government corruption, crumbling roads and poorly performing public schools.
Source: Greenville News on 2018 South Carolina governor race
Feb 26, 2018
On Education:
Arm teachers: the only defense is a good offense
Saying "the only defense is a good offense," Republican candidate for governor Catherine Templeton said she supports arming teachers as part of an effort to improve school safety. Templeton responded to a question about school security in an
interview. "It is such a complex issue between mental health, between shoring up the infrastructure in our schools to make them safer, whether it is metal detectors or bullet-proof glass," she said. "Most immediately,
I think the school resource officers, law enforcement and any teacher if they want to be trained should be armed to protect our children."School security has become a hot topic in the state and throughout the nation since a gunman killed 17 people at
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14. Authorities in the Upstate have responded to a number of threats and perceived threats of violence at Upstate schools.
Source: Greenville News on 2018 South Carolina governor race
Feb 26, 2018
On Health Care:
Blow up state health agency, from the inside out
Templeton's record as a state agency chief in Haley's Cabinet also could give fuel to critics. For example:- Templeton made enemies--and was sued--for laying off several dozen employees at the state's labor and environmental agencies.
While Republicans praised her cost-cutting efforts, Democrats criticized her for overlooking the human cost of the cuts.
- Under Templeton's leadership, the state's health agency also was slow to respond to a tuberculosis outbreak at a
Greenwood County school in the town of Ninety Six, infuriating parents. When tested, 53 students had been infected with the disease, which can be deadly if untreated.
- Gov. Haley asked Templeton to run the state's health and
environmental agency and "blow it up, from the inside out," Templeton says. "We did, and you can read all about it in the paper. The liberal media called me a buzz saw. The Democrats said I was dangerous. But I didn't care."
Source: The State on 2018 South Carolina gubernatorial race
Oct 7, 2017
On Civil Rights:
Opposes accommodating transgender people
Templeton said she thinks transgender people should use the bathrooms matching their birth gender, not their identity. She stopped short of calling for a law to be passed. She also was asked to comment on
President Donald Trump`s tweet banning transgender people from serving in the military. "If you sign up and join as a man, you serve as a man. If you join as a woman, you serve as a woman. I don't think it's any more complicated than that."
Source: Gay Today on 2018 South Carolina Governor race
Aug 3, 2017
On Civil Rights:
Proud of the Confederacy; don't rewrite history
Catherine Templeton made waves in her first public forum as gubernatorial candidate by saying she is "proud of the Confederacy" and pledged "we're not going to rewrite history" by removing Confederate monuments. Templeton's comments upset black leaders,
who are still stung by the vicious fight to remove the Confederate battle flag from the S.C. Statehouse grounds.A man who identified himself as a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans asked Templeton about her views on "Southern heritage" and
removal of monuments and memorials.
Templeton's answer was blunt: "Not on my watch. I don't think there's anything else to say about it," Templeton said. "You cannot rewrite history. I don't care whose feelings it hurts. You cannot rewrite history.
We're standing on the shoulders of giants in South Carolina," she added. "And it's why we are, who we are, where we are. And I very much respect the men who gave their homes, their fortunes & their lives to put us in this position."
Source: Post and Courier on 2018 South Carolina Governor race
Aug 2, 2017
On Government Reform:
Fight corruption & waste & good ol' boy system in Columbia
Former state health department director Catherine Templeton will run for governor of South Carolina in 2018. The anti-union attorney who was on the short list for Labor Secretary in President Donald Trump's cabinet, Templeton made her plans official
in a statement to The Post and Courier: "I have never run for office, and I won't run for the next one, but I can't unsee what I saw in Columbia," Templeton said. "The corruption, waste, self interest, and good ol boy system is alive and well.
It's ridiculous. Doing the right thing, is not that hard if you are in it for the right reasons.
"Right now is the time to send someone with practical experience running a business, making a home,
and reforming government to call balls and strikes and do the math in Columbia," she continued. "We can't wait another decade to get started."
Source: Post and Courier on 2018 South Carolina governor race
Apr 4, 2017
Page last updated: Dec 11, 2018