Jaime Harrison in 2020 SC Senate race
On Abortion:
Should be between a woman, her doctor, her God
Q: Does a woman in this country have the right to control her own body even if she wants an abortion? Harrison: I believe she does. Men have rights to control their bodies and women should have equal rights to control their bodies as well. I believe
that it's between a woman, her doctor, and her God. Politicians shouldn't be anywhere in it. We need to make sure that abortions should be rare. We should look at how we expand adoptions, how we have contraception and educate our kids about all of that.
Source: 2020 South Carolina Senate debate (Rev.com transcript)
Oct 3, 2020
On Crime:
Bring police and community together to address problems
Harrison: I understand that there are good police out there. But we also understand that there's some bad apples because there's an entire community that is fearful when sometimes a blue light comes behind them because they don't know whether or not
their lives are going. We have to admit that there are some problems in some of our policing right now. And we have to work with our police and the community members to bring folks together in order to work on addressing this problem.
Source: 2020 South Carolina Senate debate (Rev.com transcript)
Oct 3, 2020
On Education:
We need 50-state strategy to open up schools: testing, masks
Harrison: Teaching your kids from home is very, very difficult. We need a strategy, a 50-state strategy. We failed to act. The Senate failed to act. The White House failed to act. The governors failed to act. We need leaders who are going to step up
and act. We need testing here in South Carolina. We need to make sure that we have a mandate that said, "Folks, please just wear your mask so that we can bring down the transmission of this virus and then open our economy back up."
Source: 2020 South Carolina Senate debate (Rev.com transcript)
Oct 3, 2020
On Education:
Reduce college tuition, address student loan crisis
Harrison: We are seeing and witnessing something that we have never witnessed here in America before. Young people have $1.6 trillion of debt. There is more student loan debt in this country than there is credit card debt. My wife and I are still paying
off our student loan debt. That's a burden for so many young folks. I want to work to make sure that we reduce tuition costs and work on the student loan debt crisis here so they don't have to be burdened with such debt to start off their lives.
Source: 2020 South Carolina Senate debate (Rev.com transcript)
Oct 3, 2020
On Energy & Oil:
Green New Deal too expensive, but must reduce emissions
Harrison: Senator Graham has mentioned that he believes climate change is real. Well, that ain't good enough, if we don't do something affirmatively in order to address the issue of the climate. I think the Green New Deal is too expensive.
It's become too partisan. We've got to figure a way, though, because we have to dramatically reduce carbon emissions. That is something that all of the scientists have said.
Source: 2020 South Carolina Senate debate (Rev.com transcript)
Oct 3, 2020
On Health Care:
COVID: Put blame on how we handled it, I take it seriously
Q: How has politicization of the virus damaged our response?Graham: President Wilson got the Spanish flu right after World War I, and we live in such unusual times I doubt if anybody yet attacked him. All I can say is that
the virus is a problem that came out of China, not Trump Tower. The one thing I want people to know is that the virus is serious, but we have to move on as a nation. When a military member gets infected, you don't shut down the whole unit.
Harrison: We shouldn't blame the president. We shouldn't blame anybody for the inception of this disease. But where blame should come is how we handled this disease, whether or not we take it seriously. That's why I put this plexiglass up because
it's not just about me, it's about the people in my life that I have to take care of, my two boys, my wife, my grandmother. We need to make sure we are addressing the issue here in South Carolina.
Source: 2020 South Carolina Senate debate (Rev.com transcript)
Oct 3, 2020
On Principles & Values:
I will never lie to you; won't go back on my word
Harrison: Google Lindsey Graham and term limits. He said he would term limit himself. I do believe that the ultimate term limit is in the power of the people here in South Carolina. But I also believe it is incumbent upon us to keep our promises.
And if we change our minds, just admit, I changed my mind. Don't duck and dodge. I will never, never, never lie to you. You may not agree with everything I say all the time, but you will always know where I stand and I'm not going to go back on my word.
Source: 2020 South Carolina Senate debate (Rev.com transcript)
Oct 3, 2020
On Principles & Values:
First step working with other side is not to call them nuts
Graham: The people running the Democratic Party today are nuts. Harrison: The first step in terms of working with the other side is not to call the other side nuts. I have a six-year-old who I teach, "You know, son,
that sometimes people come from different backgrounds and they see the world a little differently, but that doesn't make them bad because of it." Even though Democrats and Republicans may take the different paths, hopefully our destination is the same.
Source: 2020 South Carolina Senate debate (Rev.com transcript)
Oct 3, 2020
On Social Security:
Social Security and Medicare are more than a promise
Harrison: One way that you save Social Security, is not by eliminating the payroll tax right now, because it would wreck this program. Folks deserve the money that they have put into the system. Lindsey Graham said, "That Social Security and
Medicare, were promises that we can't keep." Senator, I'm sorry, but they are not promises. People have paid into these systems and they deserve to get the money back that they put into it, because that is the livelihood that they have.
Source: 2020 South Carolina Senate debate (Rev.com transcript)
Oct 3, 2020
On Technology:
Our infrastructure in this state sucks
Harrison: I support infrastructure here in South Carolina. I have friends who sometimes come to South Carolina because it's a beautiful place with beautiful people. And they say, "Jamie, I love South Carolina. But, dude, what is wrong with your roads?"
And that is a problem, my friends. Our infrastructure in this state, and I'm going to use a technical word, sucks. And it's because we've had leaders who've been feckless for 20-some-odd years, and Senator Graham is one of them.
Source: 2020 South Carolina Senate debate (Rev.com transcript)
Oct 3, 2020
On Principles & Values:
Not political issues: about doing what is right
"We are trying to be above politics because we have issues here that are not political issues," he said. "They are issues that
Democrats and Republicans, poor and rich, black and white are all struggling with and dealing with on a day to day basis. It's about doing what is right versus what's wrong."
Source: Newsweek Magazine on 2020 South Carolina Senate race
Jun 8, 2020
On Crime:
Done with racial profiling, bias, and over-policing
We are done with the racial profiling, bias and over-policing that have plagued our communities for decades. We are tired of lawmakers responding to hate crimes with prayers but no meaningful works.
It is past time to toughen hate crime legislation, end private prisons and cash bail, and train law enforcement officials on implicit bias and ways to deescalate situations instead of immediately resorting to lethal violence.
Source: The Root e-zine on 2020 South Carolina Senate race
Jun 6, 2020
On Families & Children:
How do I tell my black sons that this could be them?
How do I explain to my beautiful black sons they could be treated differently because of the color of their skin? How do I tell them this prejudice could incite those who are sworn to protect and serve them to one day hurt or kill them?
It is my worst nightmare to know what could happen some day while my sons are walking home from the store, jogging in the neighborhood or being pulled over by the police.
Source: The Root e-zine on 2020 South Carolina Senate race
Jun 6, 2020
On Education:
Losing a whole generation of teachers because of low pay
Insufficient minimal requirements of teachers, Harrison insists, coupled with the persistent issue of low salaries, is a formula that will cause a child's education to implode. "We have to do more. We have to do better. We need to increase the funding
for public school teachers, because we're about to hit a crisis in this state where we're losing a whole generation of them because they can find other professions where they get more respect, more money and less stress."
Source: Essence Magazine on 2020 South Carolina Senate race
May 26, 2020
On Health Care:
Lower access to care "ripping a heart out of a community"
Harrison estimates that roughly 250,000 South Carolinians don't have healthcare, in part because, he says, Graham chose to reject Medicaid expansion under ObamaCare. "This is a state where two years ago, 14 out of the 46 counties had no OBGYNs,"
Harrison reports. "This is a state in which we've had four rural hospitals that have closed over the past few years." Harrison insists the declining access to care has been like "ripping a heart out of a community."
Source: Essence Magazine on 2020 South Carolina Senate race
May 26, 2020
On Principles & Values:
Helping others: cooking dinners, sharing campaign donations
Harrison said his campaign is seeking to help others. He said he cooked dinner Friday for parents of hospitalized children at the Ronald McDonald House in Greenville.
He promised to turn over $20,000 at the end of December from his campaign account to the state Democratic Party to assist other candidates.
Source: The Greenville News on 2020 South Carolina Senate race
Dec 15, 2019
On Civil Rights:
Encourage voter drives among unregistered African Americans
He encouraged voter registration drives to continue, especially in the African American community. "There are almost 400,000 unregistered
African Americans in South Carolina," he said. "There are 40,000 unregistered African Americans in the Spartanburg and Greenville areas."
Source: GoUpstate.com on 2020 South Carolina Senate race
Dec 13, 2019
On Civil Rights:
Opposes voters having to provide Social Security numbers
Harrison called the lawsuit "a strong step" in the fight to protect voting rights in the state. "This unconstitutional requirement has forced almost one million eligible South Carolina voters, including over 400,000 people of color, from being able to
register in the state. The people of South Carolina deserve better from their leaders," Harrison said in a statement. South Carolina is one of five states that require voters to provide their Social Security numbers.
Source: The Hill e-zine on 2020 South Carolina Senate race
Nov 25, 2019
Page last updated: Oct 11, 2020