South Carolina House District 16: Meet your 2026 Candidate

Who's running for South Carolina House of Representatives in District 16? Meet Lynn Ramirez, one of the candidates on the ballot in the November 3, 2026 general election. Hear where she stands on the issues facing voters, then share this episode with your neighbors before Election Day. Republican Mark Willis was invited to participate but did not respond to our numerous requests.

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:

• Lynn Ramirez

• Sample Ballot

Candidate Introduction and Election Context

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 an interview with one of your candidates for State House of Representatives District 16, Democrat Lynn Ramirez. Republican Mark Willis was invited to participate but did not respond to our numerous requests.

District 16 generally covers southern Greenville County and northern Laurens County, including Fountain Inn and Simpsonville.

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 candidates' preferred internet presence on the episode page.

Meet Lynn Ramirez: South Carolina House of Representatives District 16 Candidate

And now, Lynn Ramirez. I am so pleased to be joined by Lynn Ramirez, who is running for South Carolina House District 16. Lynn, thanks so much for being here.

Lynn Ramirez:

Thank you, Katy. I'm excited to be able to share some time and information with you today. So thanks for inviting me.

Katy Smith:

Sure. Well, tell us about yourself and why you're running for this office.

Lynn Ramirez:

Great question. Well, I'm Lynn Ramirez, and I'm running, as you said, for State House 16, the majority of which is in the rapidly growing Simpsonville and mostly unincorporated Simpsonville areas and Fountain Inn areas. I don't look at our community's challenges through a narrow political lens.

I have extensive background in finance and health care that gives me a unique ability to dive into complex state budgets and cut through government waste and find practical analytical solutions to infrastructure and economic pressures facing our area. So my extensive community volunteer work and years of collegiate coaching increases my awareness of issues and various approaches to solutions.

But it's actually my role as a Stephen minister that's driven my desire and need at this time to run for statehouse. As a Stephen minister, for those who don't know what it is, it's a professionally trained caregiver, if you will.

Whether it was a tragic death of a child or being blindsided with a divorce or a financial catastrophe, my job was to be with you through the hurt, to let you know that you weren't alone, and to support and counsel you. So my role in that position was to be a caregiver.

I had this difficult case that involved some horrendous domestic abuse. And after caring for this individual who is actively being battered to the point that the bruising and the bleeding could no longer be hidden, I kind of had enough. I decided that caring wasn't enough, that I needed to be a change maker and this is where I am again right now.

For years I've been working out in the community and I hear the frustrations, I see the pain and the hurt, and it's just not enough for me to put my arm around you and say, oh, there, there, everything will be all right. Caring isn't enough when my district's foreclosures rates have gone up, 12% year over year. And it's not enough when someone is adding $2 of gas to their tank so they can still pay the electric bill. So right now, it's time for me to be a changemaker.

Katy Smith:

Thank you. What do you believe is most on constituents' minds that you can address should you win?

Lynn Ramirez:

Well, I've been out in my district asking people what their biggest concerns are over this last year or more. And I consistently hear many of the same things. I'll highlight three of them.

The first concern is affordability issues and it's not just one thing. It's the high cost of food, it's the high prices of gasoline, high prices of utilities and the high prices of housing.

The second concern of many of my constituents that they seem to have is this crazy growth in our area. But when I dig down deeper, it's not just the growth per se. It's the fact that infrastructure hasn't kept pace with the growth.

It's the long commute times to get to work or just to get groceries or run an errand. It's the obstacle course to avoid damage to your car from the potholes. And it's the loss of green space for kids to play and people to enjoy.

And now, in particular, it's the looming threat of these mega-AI surveillance data centers moving in. The third thing I hear, quite often, is the utter frustration people are having with politics, the divisiveness, the corruption, and their inability to have any sort of access to elected officials to voice their concerns.

They say that they never hear anything from these career politicians unless it's some sort of congratulatory photo op, or if it's election time, and even then it's often just saying and promising whatever they want and still not doing anything. So those are the top three concerns that I consistently hear.

Katy Smith:

Thank you. What would be your plans to address those constituent concerns and interests?

Lynn Ramirez:

Well, there are a lot of things that can be done on the state level to address these things. First, I'll say we need to recognize that many of these problems could be solved, if we stop electing and sending representatives to Columbia or Washington, that are bought and paid for by the companies or organizations that are causing and benefiting from these problems.

And that's really important, so I'm going to just say it again, that many of the problems we have can be solved if we stop electing and sending representatives to Columbia that are bought and paid for by the companies or organizations that are causing and benefiting from these problems. For example, taking money from insurance companies or utility companies and then voting to increase rates seems like it should be illegal.

I will take no corporate PAC money, no dark money. I won't be bought. It's time to get money out of politics, and over 80% of the population agrees with that. So you have to ask yourself, who is benefiting by not addressing campaign finance reform? And then look at the money they're taking.

So once money is out of politics, we can actually work on serving the people. It means that a bill to suspend the gas tax, and there were three separate bills written this past session, could have been brought to the floor. But instead of that, they spent the time giving themselves raises. And which helps the people more? And who did that benefit?

It means more work could be done to actually fix the roads instead of all that time they spent renaming the roads. And again, does that help the people renaming the roads? And who did that benefit?

It means we could work on passing a bill on a statewide moratorium or at least a statewide guidelines on construction, of these mega AI surveillance data centers until we plan for the massive amount of energy required to operate them without hurting our communities, our infrastructure, or our resources.

The current establishment has allowed massive data centers to threaten our groundwater tables, and I will fight for strict closed-loop laws to ensure our communities' drinking water doesn't turn into the brown water crisis we're seeing across the border in Georgia. Minnesota enacted a law requiring large data centers to cover their full utility costs, and necessary grid upgrades, making clean energy sourcing and rate payer protection mandatory, we can do the same.

Right now, Columbia is allowing massive corporate developments and data centers to outpace our state's actual energy and water capacity. We are overbuilding without keeping up with the safety, widening, and maintenance of our existing local roads, and we need to change that.

I will work on policies that actually address the concerns of the people in District 16. There is so much that can be fixed if you can elect people focused on solving problems rather than sowing division. But first, you need to be available to understand their needs. I will be visible and available.

If you can elect people that aren't running for power but are running for purpose, we can take care of our families and our communities. I'm all about protecting our backyards, not backroom deals, and I will have no problem reaching across the aisle to serve my district.

Katy Smith:

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

Lynn Ramirez:

Yeah. Quickly, I'd love to mention two other things I didn't talk about that are often a concern. Healthcare and education.

Our state remains in the bottom 10 for education. Our current voucher system is full of waste, fraud, and abuse and actively drains tax dollars out of local communities. We need to address this and the incentives needed to attract and retain good teachers. I'll be working with the South Carolina Education Association and our Superintendent of Education to develop policies to accomplish these goals.

That also incorporate some of the reasonable child care solutions, addressing the shortage and the cost of child care. So health care costs then and health care access are becoming a bigger and bigger problem here in South Carolina.

We now have 17 counties without no BGYN, which means that even if you have a facility near you, wait times will increase. And this will increase our already very high rates of infant and maternal mortality. More and more people are looking at bankruptcy due to medical costs.

It's unsustainable, and I'll look for more experienced people in this field for possible solutions at a state level. We don't have the luxury to waste our time on political theater.

I believe in a straightforward, practical approach to government, protect our drinking water from corporate depletion, hold out of state developers accountable to our local utility grids and support our work and families. I'm focused entirely on the state and local issues that impact your daily life, your commute, and your wallet.

So I'm happy to answer any other questions or address concerns. I encourage my almost 33,000 registered voters to be informed, and I want them to know that this year they have a choice. I'm Lynn Ramirez, running as Democrat for Statehouse 16.

Katy Smith:

Well, thank you so much for joining us, and thank you so much for your willingness to serve.

Lynn Ramirez:

Thank you, Katy.