District 27 - Meet your Candidates for South Carolina House of Representatives

Meet Democrat John MacCarthy and Republican David Vaughan, South Carolina House of Representatives District 27 candidates in the November general election. District 27 runs along I-385 and includes Southeast Mauldin, most of Simpsonville, and a little bit of northwest Fountain Inn. In this episode, each candidate has 10 minutes to introduce themselves to the voters. Your vote is so important! Please take a listen and share with your neighbors.

Links:

John MacCarthy

David Vaughan

Sample Ballot

Transcript

Katy Smith:
Hey, Simple Civics listeners. Thanks so much for listening week after week. We are so glad to be a resource for you civically engaged citizens. If you would like to be a resource for us, I have three invitations for you. First, share this podcast with a friend who you know cares about our community. Second, rate and review us on Apple or Spotify, which helps more people find us. And third, feel free to make a donation to help us share this content. We are a nonprofit and your support really makes a difference. You can click donate in the descriptions or show notes for today's episode, or you can go to simplecivicsgreenvillecounty.org and click on the big green donate button. But just being a listener is the greatest gift you can give. So thank you, and here's today's show.

Katy Smith:
When you go to the polls on November 5th or in early voting, you have the chance to vote not just for president. South Carolina voters will also choose their state House and Senate members. These members of our legislature make important and decisions about things such as the state budget, policies on education, health care, public safety, the judicial system, and much more. I'm Katy Smith with Greater Good Greenville, and on this episode of Simple Civics: Greenville County, we feature interviews with your candidates for SC House of Representatives District 27, Democrat John MacCarthy, and Republican David Vaughan. District 27 runs along I-385 and includes Southeast Malden, most of Simpsonville, and a little bit of Northwest Fountain Inn. Here's 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. We've put links to the participating candidates' preferred internet presence on the episode page. First up is John MacCarthy. Well, I'm pleased to be joined today by John McCarthy, who is running for South Carolina House District 27. Thanks so much for being here today.

John MacCarthy:
Thank you so much for having me here today.

Katy Smith:
Super. Tell us about yourself and why you're running for office.

John MacCarthy:
Well, my wife Betsy and I have been married for more than 40 years, and we have two nearly perfect children and three perfect grandchildren and a dog. Now, my daughter and two grandchildren live here in South Carolina, so I have a real stake in the future of this state. My father was a physician and a Reagan Republican. My mother was a professor of psychiatric nursing and a Humphrey Elizabeth Warren Democrat. Discussions with my mother and father led me to develop an understanding and respect for all political perspectives. For the most part, I grew up with my father in conservative rural communities that shaped many of my core values. Up until about 25 years ago, I considered myself to be a Republican. But my Christian faith and my research into economic, social, and defense issues, as well as into climate change, led me to the conclusion that the Democratic Party was far more in line with my values and policy positions than the Republican Party. And the evolution of the Republican Party over the last 25 years has only solidified that conviction. My faith is important to me and it guides my life. I've been a Presbyterian for the last 50-plus years. I'm an elder in the church, and I've taught adult Sunday school courses pretty much every year for the last 40 years. As a person of faith, I believe we are called to love and respect one another and to defend the poor and the suffering and the oppressed.

John MacCarthy:
Over the course of my career, I've been a physicist, an engineer, a manager, and a college professor. I earned a doctorate in physics from the University of Notre Dame. I taught physics at Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania, and I spent 20-plus years as a systems engineer and a manager, working to develop a variety of systems of national significance. And in 2015, I was recruited to be the director of the University of Maryland's Systems Engineering Graduate and Undergraduate Program. In 2020, my wife Betsy and I retired and moved here to Simpsonville, where I was fortunate enough to find a position as an adjunct lecturer at Wofford College and as an instructor in Furman's Lifelong Learning Program. While I admit that I was not fortunate enough to be born and raised in Simpsonville, I was able to choose to live in Simpsonville, and it's one of the best decisions I've ever made.

John MacCarthy:
The values, experience, and skills that I've learned over the course of my life have prepared me to be an effective representative for District 27, which includes Simpsonville, Mauldin, and parts of Fountain Inn. I've learned to listen to and learn from diverse groups of people. I've learned the importance of database-driven decisions as opposed to opinion-driven decisions. I have learned to carefully research and evaluate issues and solutions, and I have learned to responsibly evaluate the costs associated with proposed solutions. And finally, I've learned to be solution-focused and to integrate data from different disciplines and different perspectives to find solutions that best meet everyone's needs.

John MacCarthy:
So why am I running? I'm running because, to quote Edmund Burke, "All that is required for evil to triumph over good is for good people to do nothing." And I would encourage our listeners to take this quote to heart and vote on November 5th and to work for those candidates that reflect your values. I'm running to protect our freedoms, our families, and our public safety. I'm running because the statehouse needs representatives who understand the technologies that will provide the foundation for our state's future economic growth both, and who will protect the welfare and interests of all of our citizens, not just the wealthy. And I'm running because I have the values, experience, and skills required to do a much better job of representing District 27.

Katy Smith:
What do you believe are the biggest issues facing your constituents, and what would you do about them if elected?

John MacCarthy:
Well, there are many issues that are important to me. The three that I find most important are affordable health, affordable child care, reproductive rights, and gun safety. With respect to affordable child care, we have a child care crisis in this state, and we're not doing enough to address it. The median cost of child care in South Carolina is about $7,000 per child per year. And for Greenville County, it's about $9,000 per year. The median family income here in South Carolina is about $77,000. So child care takes up about 10% of family income, and that's just for a single child. The problem is even more acute for single mothers. About 39% of children in South Carolina live in single-parent households, and roughly 80% of those are single-mother households. The median income for single mothers in South Carolina is about $43,000. So the cost of child care for a single child represents about 16% of their income in South Carolina, at about, a 21% of their income if they live in Greenville County. And if a single parent is making a minimum wage job, their income is less than $16,000 a year. How can families afford to work and provide child care? Now, while the state of South Carolina does have a child care scholarship program that, in theory, provides scholarships for working families.

John MacCarthy:
The program falls short of its goals. First, it appears that the average support provided to families is only about $1,650 per child per year, which is only a fraction of the $7,000 to $9,000 cost of child care. Secondly, the program only serves a fraction of the state's 291,000 children under the age of 5 and 506,000 children between the ages of 5 and 12. And the total number of children served by that program is only about 42,000 children. So just a small fraction of the need is addressed. No w, to address these significant shortfalls, I propose that the scholarship program be revised to provide scholarships of $7,000 per year per child under the age of five to every family in which there are two working parents and to every working single parent family making less than $97,000 per year that does not receive other kinds of child care benefits, and that the state fully fund the program to do this. Now, with respect to reproductive rights, it's clear to me that regardless of how we personally feel about abortions, a woman has a fundamental God-given right to control her own body. A state legislature with no medical training should not be making decisions about women's reproductive health.

John MacCarthy:
This is a matter that should be addressed by the woman and her physician, and the state should not prevent people from obtaining the medical care they require. But even if you believe that we should put restrictions on abortion, there are some significant problems with the current six-week ban on abortions. Many women do not realize they are pregnant by six weeks, and once you are aware, it takes time to determine what you will do and to schedule both a consultation and then the procedure. We all know how long it takes us to get any sort of medical procedure done here in Greenville County.

John MacCarthy:
Also, while the bill does indicate that abortions are permitted in a medical emergency, it's unclear what constitutes such an emergency. As a result, physicians and hospitals fear prosecution for performing procedures that they determine to be an emergency. This ban may well criminalize many of the procedures associated with ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages. I'm also concerned that many South Carolina OBGYNs will consider moving to another state, one that does permit them to treat their parents in accordance with their best medical judgment, and that many OBGYNs will decide not to come to South Carolina for the same reason.

John MacCarthy:
If this occurs, it will have a significant negative consequence on women's health in this state. We need to repeal this ban. And finally, with regard to gun safety, while I'm a gun owner and I support the Second Amendment, it's clear that we need to promote responsible gun ownership. It's also clear that the recently passed law that permits anyone 18 years or older to purchase and carry handguns in public without a permit or any training does not promote responsible gun ownership. South Carolina has the 10th highest rate of gun deaths in the U.S. And the 6th highest rate of gun injuries in the United States. 51% of gun deaths in South Carolina are by gun suicide. Research shows that right-to-carry and permitless carry laws increase firearm homicides by 13% to 22%, and firearm violent crimes by about 29%.

John MacCarthy:
Passing right-to-carry laws increases gun thefts by roughly 35% and introduces tens of thousands of guns into the hands of criminals or illegal gun markets each year. And right-to-carry laws are associated with a 13% decline in the rates that police are able to clear violent crime cases. Again, unpermitted open carry is a threat to public safety and to effective law enforcement and needs to be repealed.

Katy Smith:
Thank you. What would you do in the first 30 days after being sworn in?

John MacCarthy:
Well, that'll be a time of great learning for me. I will work to develop a working relationship with the House leadership and with members of both parties. The other thing that I will do in the first 30 days is work to sponsor a bill that will provide affordable health care.

Katy Smith:
Well, thank you very much for your time, and thank you so much for your willingness to serve.

John MacCarthy:
My pleasure. It was wonderful to be here. Thank you for having me.

Katy Smith:
Next up is incumbent David Vaughan. Well, I'm pleased to be joined by David Vaughan, who's running for re-election as Republican for House District 27. Thanks so much for joining us today.

David Vaughan:
Thank you for having me.

Katy Smith:
Great. Tell us about yourself and why you're running for re-election.

David Vaughan:
Well, Katy, I'll tell you that I've been in Greenville. I was born here. I'm what you would call a homeboy, local bred. And I grew up in Mauldin, lived there for half my life and moved all the way to Simpsonville for the other half. So, for the last 59 years, I've been a product of Mauldin-Simpsonsville. So, what made me decide to run the first time is really probably the bigger story that... You hear a lot of times that preachers are called. You hear, I believe that school teachers are called. It's a true calling.

David Vaughan:
And I was not listening for that call. Politics, you would own everything I have because my wife would have bet everything that I would never be in politics. But I went to a hunting or a hunt, a quail hunt. Number one, I don't hunt. But I was invited and I thought, I'll go. And, um, and so I went to this quail hunt and we're sitting around talking about how bad of shots we were and, and so forth. Well, there was a state house representative there. And I asked him how Gary Smith was doing. Gary Smith was the former state house representative for district 27 had been there for 20 years and asked him how Gary was doing. He said, well, Gary's retiring. I'm like, you're kidding. And he said, no. I said, well, I'll just, I guess I'll just run. And I was completely kidding. And he said, you should. And so we continued our event. And later on, he said, it would be great for you to consider that. And it really just, so he had a couple of people call me and just say, I'd really like for you to think about it. And so I did a lot of praying. I reached out to a few people that I knew and probably I decided that I would run. And then I would decide that I will not run, probably about 87 times.

David Vaughan:
But at the end of the day, you know, I really did feel that, you know, there were four people in the race that were running. So I thought, this is a great test. If it truly is God's will, I'll win. If not, I'll lose because there's four good people running. it. So I started learning about politics, learning more. I've always known my community. My community has always meant a lot to me. I have three children. They grew up in that community. And so I've also felt like it was a great time to give back. I had reached a success in my business. My baby girl was at Clemson, and my other two were married, and so it was a good time.

David Vaughan:
So everything worked out. And so to run for re-election, the answer to that question is because I just now learned what I'm doing. The first two years is truly the old adage of drinking water from a fire hydrant, but that was me. And you do a lot of, I try to do a lot of listening, and do a lot of learning, a lot of reading, making connections, making friends. And there's a lot of great people in Columbia. And so the first two years, I didn't author a single bill. There were approximately 2,000 that were authored. So I had plenty to read and to choose the ones that I wanted to co-sponsor. So there's a long answer to a good question.

Katy Smith:
Thank you. What do you believe are the biggest issues facing your constituents and what would you do about them if reelected?

David Vaughan:
Well, I think the issues facing my constituents are the same issues facing many people, both in our country, in our state, and especially in my community, is that people are angry. They have a distrust of government. And so right now, I think that's one thing they need to see is somebody who does what they say.

David Vaughan:
And I guess in the past, you used to, if you disagreed about a topic, whatever that topic may be, you could disagree and move on. And you could still be friends and just be, hey, we disagree on that. But now it's become so polarized that if you don't agree, then you're the enemy.

David Vaughan:
And it's a sad part of where our state is right now. And I hate that. I just see so many. And I think a lot of that just lies in the unrest of being the uncertainty that my politicians, the people who are representing me, are they really representing me or are they representing themselves? And I think that's a bridge that has to be built between the constituents and their representatives. And I think that's probably the biggest issue that my constituents, and probably the most, by far, the best thing about being a state house representative is the constituent services, by far. I mean, the votes are important. They are very important. but we get a lot of calls from people in your community and it allows us by being in the state house. If you're having a problem with a department of social services... there's someone that we can call and I can actually talk with someone. And that's the best part by far. And if there's a road that the light is, you know, it doesn't work properly. I can call the DOT and it gets fixed. And that's the best part by far. But, uh, I want the constituents in my area to know that I do what I say and I'll say what I do.

Katy Smith:
Thank you. What would you do in the first 30 days after being sworn in?

David Vaughan:
Well, the first thing I'm going to do now that I've learned is I am going to alter some bills. I've learned the process and it is a process and it needs to be a process. You know, I think a lot of people, I used to feel like maybe my constituents were thinking, well, what's he doing? And he's just down there. He's not altering any bills. He's not doing anything. But like I said, there's 2,000. There's plenty of bills. And the one thing that I don't think any of us want is more government. I think most people would raise their hand for less government, at least on the Republican side of the platform. And so the bills, there's a process and it's a very lengthy process and it should be. It's difficult to get a bill through. And there's a lot of bills... I had brought this because I didn't know how much the, I'm looking at the 2024 passed legislation. And as you can see, these are all the bills that were passed. And...

David Vaughan:
That's that's that's a lot of bills that that change our state. So I think the key is, is that you do. The reason for government is to stand up and fight for those that may be in slang terms being picked on by the government. And that's the job that we need to do. So as far as the bills, I'm looking at in particular is the ingredients that are being put in our foods. A bill was just passed in Florida that specifically talks about the labeling and what can and what can't, and that you can't make mystery meat and package it and call it meat. So that would be one of the bills. And then another bill is to protect our police.

David Vaughan:
And, you know, they protect us. And in any society, it begins and ends with people feeling safe. And I think that's why a lot of you see these bigger cities like Chicago and San Francisco and L.A., and they just don't feel safe anymore. And I think that's why so many people are moving to South Carolina, because we do care about our police and our firefighters and our first responders. And I think that's a big reason why you're seeing such an influx in South Carolina.

Katy Smith:
Thank you. We have a little bit more time. Is there anything else you'd like to share with listeners?

David Vaughan:
Well, you had mentioned earlier before we started was you had a podcast about home rule, and I'm a big fan of home rule. I do believe, I think that the one thing that I would, want to convey, and I've said this many times, is we need people in our home, in our community, to listen to podcasts like this, to read, to know who and what people stand for and why they're voting for that person. Listen, I can't throw a stone because I lived in that glass house. I was that person who two, three weeks before the election, I'm like, okay, let's see who's running. But in our state, so many of the races are won in the primaries. So it's important to be involved. And I know that life is busy. Raising kids makes life even busier. Having a business, busy. It's very difficult to be busy. Or no, it's not difficult to be busy. It's very difficult to stay involved. Add one more thing to make you busier and to be involved in politics. So but but I think what you're seeing now and we're all seeing is the importance of being involved. So that's the one thing I would ask.

Katy Smith:
Thank you so much. We appreciate you joining us and we appreciate your willingness to continue to serve the people of the state.

David Vaughan:
Truly my pleasure. Thank you.

Catherine Puckett:
Simple Civics: Greenville County is a project of Greater Good Greenville. Greater Good Greenville was catalyzed by the merger of the Nonprofit Alliance and the Greenville Partnership for Philanthropy. You can learn more on our website at greatergoodgreenville.org.