Who's running for Greenville County Council in District 28? Meet Kyle Long and Thomas Sanders, the candidates on the ballot in the November 3, 2026 general election. Hear where they stand on the issues facing voters, then share this episode with your neighbors before Election Day.
How the interviews worked:
All candidates received the same question at the time of their invitation to join us, and they were given 10 minutes for their interview. Candidates were allowed to bring along a companion, such as a campaign manager, family member, or friend, and to record our session themselves. There were no edits made to the interview.
Candidate links:
Introduction to Greenville County Council District 28 Race
Katy Smith:
When you go to the polls on November 3rd or during early voting, you have the chance to vote for important offices such as U.S. Senate, U.S. Congress, Governor, and State House members. We want to help you get to know your candidates so you can make an informed decision.
I'm Katy Smith with Greater Good Greenville, and on this episode of Simple Civics Greenville County, we feature interviews with your candidates for Greenville County Council District 28, Republican Kyle Long, and Democrat Thomas Sanders. District 28 is in the Golden Strip, including parts of Mauldin, Simpsonville, and Five Forks.
Here's how the interviews worked. All candidates received the same questions at the time of their invitation to join us, and they were given 10 minutes for their interview. Candidates were allowed to bring along a companion, such as a campaign manager, family member, or friend, and to record our session themselves.
There were no edits made to the interview. We've put links to the participating candidate's preferred internet presence on the episode page.
Meet Kyle Long: Greenville County Council District 28 Candidate
First up alphabetically is Kyle Long. I'm pleased to be joined by Kyle Long who is running for County Council District 28. Thanks so much for being here.
Kyle Long:
Thank you for having me, Katy.
Katy Smith:
Tell us about yourself and why you're running for this office.
Kyle Long:
So I'm Kyle Long and I'm running for Greenville County Council District 28. That is south of Woodruff Road. I get a little bit of Simpsonville, a little bit of Mauldin, then you go out West Georgia Road to the Shoals, Fork Shoals, Log Shoals, and back to Miller Road, and that's our area.
I grew up in Greenville off of Pelham Road, going to the public education system, riding the bus, playing baseball, wrestling, and I graduated from Riverside High School. Then I graduated from Clemson University in electrical engineering, and that took me six years to graduate because I had to work a semester to pay for the following semester of school.
Then I went off to pilot training for the United States Air Force. I became a C-130 aircraft commander, I served in both Afghanistan and Iraq, lots of deployments. I served 20 years in the Air Force, retired as a Lieutenant Colonel, and now continue to live out the core values of integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all I do.
Of all the places we've been in the Air Force, we loved Greenville enough to make it our home again. But let me backtrack a little bit to tell you who I really am.
I was saved at age eight at Brushy Creek Baptist Church in Taylors after a week of vacation Bible school and grew in my faith until college where I let the world creep in. I grew in pride and selfishness through pilot training until I hit a point where I was about to lose everything. Then I finally surrendered my life to the Lord I had walked away from.
I know that the Lord is real and leading me because the path I was on was leading to destruction. He set me on a new path and gave me the greatest gift outside of himself, my wife of 25 years, Nicole. We now have Jeremiah, who's 17, Samuel, who's 15, and Elizabeth, who's five.
The reason I'm running is to make Greenville better for the next generation. We didn't want to live in Atlanta or Charlotte; we want to enjoy here. From infrastructure to opportunity, I want to make Greenville better. Not bigger, better. Smaller government with a well-informed active citizenry asking, "How can I help make Greenville better?"
Katy Smith:
Thank you. What do you believe is most on constituents' minds that you can address should you win?
Kyle Long:
My neighbors already pay too much in taxes. I vow to fight any tax increases. You need to prove to me that it's a need and not a want. That's what it means to be a fiscal conservative.
I understand our tax base is increasing as folks move here. We just need to be good stewards of that money. I want to focus on infrastructure. County Council was able to pass a budget that increased infrastructure spending four times what it was in previous years. Roads are getting paved, and I want to keep that going.
If the state wants to offload state roads on Greenville County, then we better receive the roads in good condition with a funding stream for maintenance. Of the $0.27 per gallon gas tax we currently pay, only $0.07 of that is coming back to Greenville. I want to work with the state legislature to repatriate more of our gas tax and lessen our donor status to other counties.
West Georgia Road should be three lanes, meaning two lanes with a center turn lane, from 385 to Fork Shoals Road. Right now it pinches off at Calgary Court at the Remington neighborhood for no reason, causing traffic to back up. There are many more roads in our area that need to be three lanes with sensors at intersections to lessen congestion.
Katy Smith:
Thank you. What would be your plans to address those constituent concerns and interests?
Kyle Long:
I want to see concurrence passed, meaning infrastructure needs to be in place to support new development or the building permit doesn't get issued. We have projects approved for the next two years that will overwhelm our infrastructure if unrestricted building was allowed.
As we grow, so does crime. I want to train, fund, and retain good law enforcement officers and deputies. I want to see Sheriff Hobart working well with ICE to get criminal illegal aliens off our streets. I think I read recently that there's a backlog of close to 20,000 warrants that need to be taken care of.
I want to see Greenville Tech become the best way for the next generation to find AI-proof opportunities. I would love to see a partnership with the mikeroweWORKS Foundation to offer more work ethic scholarships here locally. I would like to see an increase in co-ops and internships between Greenville Tech and local businesses.
I worked in big industry, I've worked in medium-sized businesses, and I'm currently working with a smaller business. I want to make it easier for AI-proof businesses and farms to get started and thrive in Greenville County, giving more folks career opportunities because they've developed marketable skills.
Katy Smith:
Thank you. We have a little bit more time. Is there anything else you'd like to share with listeners?
Kyle Long:
No, I'm just excited to serve. I'm really looking forward to doing what I said: living in integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all I do.
I can't wait to bring that kind of attitude, a great work ethic, and being a good communicator for my constituents. I want to have town halls and opportunities for them to be able to come out and see what's happening on County Council so that they have a voice, so that they know what's going on. That's the kind of guy I'm going to be in the seat.
Katy Smith:
Well, thank you so much for joining us, and thank you for your willingness to serve.
Kyle Long:
Thank you.
Meet Thomas Sanders: Greenville County Council District 28 Candidate
Katy Smith:
Next up is Thomas Sanders. I am pleased to be joined by Thomas Sanders, who's running for County Council District 28. Thanks so much for being here, Thomas.
Thomas Sanders:
Thank you for having me.
Katy Smith:
Tell us about yourself and why you're running for this office.
Thomas Sanders:
Well, I've lived in Mauldin and Simpsonville for most of my life. For the last 25 years, my wife and I have lived in Simpsonville. I say I grew up in Greenville because I've watched this community grow and change tremendously over the decades.
I've also tried to give back to this community. I've served on the school board of Brashier Middle College, the Greenville County Tax Assessment Board, and the Greenville County Human Relations Commission. I'm also a member of Greenville Downtown Rotary and have volunteered in our local schools and community.
For my day job, I own a technology consulting business here in the Upstate. Every day I work with people and businesses to fix their technology problems. And in my business, if I don't fix your problem, I don't get paid. That teaches you a few things. You learn to listen. You learn to dig into the details. And you learn that people really don't want excuses. They want results.
For the last couple of decades, the same political party has offered us the same failed policies and the empty promises that have never worked, and they're doing it again. But why am I running? Because I love this community, and I care about where we're headed, and I don't want to lose the quality of life we've enjoyed.
Like a lot of people, I've become frustrated with our bad roads, traffic, and the way we've managed growth. So I decided it was time to stop talking about it, and it was time to start doing something about it.
There's something a little bigger behind my decision to run. I believe people deserve a county council that works for them, that plans ahead, and is accountable. We need government that does its job. That's the kind of approach I've taken for 26 years in my business, and that's the approach I want to bring to County Council.
Katy Smith:
Thank you. What do you believe is most on constituents' minds that you can address should you win?
Thomas Sanders:
Well, I've spent the last several months out in the community talking with people and listening to them. And I hear three things over and over again: roads, traffic, and growth. And the more I've looked into these issues, the more I've realized they aren't really three separate issues.
They're connected in many ways. Greenville County has experienced tremendous growth. And that growth has brought a lot of good things and opportunities to our community. But our infrastructure hasn't always kept up.
People experience that every day. It's the extra time they spend sitting in traffic when they should be at home with their family, where they want to be. It's the pothole they hit or dangerously swerved to miss that week. And it's watching another large development being built and wondering how hundreds of additional cars are going to fit on that two-lane road that's already congested.
People are angry about this. But I think there's something underneath that frustration, too. People want government that works for them. They aren't asking for the extraordinary; they're not asking for something unreasonable.
They're asking for council members to do their jobs. Maintain our infrastructure. Plan for growth. Spend our money responsibly. And listen to the people. And when something doesn't work, fix it. If we keep doing things the same way, we are going to get the same results. I believe we can do better.
Katy Smith:
Thank you. What would be your plans to address those constituent concerns and interests?
Thomas Sanders:
I think it's important to be realistic. I'm not going to promise that I can fix every road or eliminate traffic overnight. But I will promise to fight every day to get going in the right direction.
There are three areas I think we need to focus on. First, we need to work on the roads. I don't believe that filling potholes every couple of months is fixing our roads. I want to do it right.
We all know that actually fixing the roads in Greenville County is going to require more revenue. The experts say between $1 to $2 billion. And anyone who says we can get enough of that money from the budget to fix roads is lying.
In November, voters will decide if they want a 1% sales tax for road improvement. If it passes, I will fight to make sure District 28 gets its roads fixed. If it does not, I will fight to get as many roads in District 28 fixed as possible with the money we have available.
We can also work on road improvements that can provide better traffic flow. But I need to be clear on this: I will not support any new taxes that do not provide direct benefits to the people in District 28.
Second, I want to make sure people know I'm not against growth. I want to make that clear. Growth has brought tremendous opportunity to Greenville County, but development and infrastructure have to be part of the same conversation.
One area I want County Council to take another look at is updating our Unified Development Ordinance. Those are essentially the rules that help determine how development takes place in the county. I want us to look to see if those rules are keeping up with the amount of growth we are experiencing and if we can do more to upgrade infrastructure when development occurs.
If we're talking about adding hundreds of roads to an area, we should be asking what that means for the roads, traffic, emergency services, and the people who already live there. How is this going to affect them? We can't keep approving growth and then try to figure out the infrastructure afterwards.
We need rules that help us plan for growth before the problems arrive. I'm not talking about stopping growth. I'm talking about managing growth better and making sure our infrastructure can keep up.
Third, I want to bring more communication to the people of District 28. Email blasts and Facebook posts are nice, but I pledge to be out in the community regularly with town halls, in the neighborhoods, in churches, and libraries across District 28.
I want to keep people up to date with what's going on and then listen to the people. I want to hear their concerns. And I will also answer the phone. If I can't, I will be in touch within 24 hours because being in the community is being part of the community. And that's what I will do.
Katy Smith:
Thank you. We have a little bit more time. Is there anything else you'd like to share with listeners?
Thomas Sanders:
I'd just like people to know how much this community means to my wife and I. I grew up here, built my business here, and we raised our family here. I want to protect the quality of life we enjoy while making sure we're prepared for the future.
I'm running because solving problems takes leaders who listen, leaders who bring people together, and leaders who deliver results. Roads, traffic, and responsible growth really aren't Republican or Democratic issues. They're Greenville County issues.
I'll work with anyone who is serious about getting things done so we can have better roads, less traffic, and a stronger future for the people of District 28. I'd be honored to have your vote. You can learn more and get involved at sandersforcountycouncil.com. Thank you.
Katy Smith:
Thank you so much for joining us, and thank you for your willingness to serve.
Thomas Sanders:
I appreciate that.
Credits
Simple Civics: Greenville County is produced by Podcast Studio X and is powered by BuzzyPod.
A Greater Good Greenville project.
