South Carolina House District 5: Meet your 2026 Candidates

Who's running for South Carolina House of Representatives in District 5? Meet Neal Collins and David Jones, 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:

• Neal Collins

• David Jones

• Sample Ballot

Candidate Forum: SC House District 5

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 State House of Representatives District 5, Republican Neal Collins, and Democrat David Jones. District 5 generally covers Pickens County and parts of western Greenville County, primarily including the Easley and Dacusville areas. 

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. First up is Neal Collins. 

I'm pleased to be joined by Neal Collins, who is running for re-election for South Carolina House District 5. Neal, thanks so much for being here.

Neal Collins:

Absolutely, Katy. Thanks for the invite.

Meet Neal Collins: South Carolina House of Representatives District 5 Candidate

Katy Smith:

Well, tell us about yourself and why you're running for re-election.

Neal Collins:

Yeah, so I've been serving in the House of Representatives for 12 years now. I'm now serving on Ways and Means Committee and Ethics Committee. But outside of serving in the legislature, I'm the managing partner of our small law firm here in Easley, and I practice family law, so a lot of divorces. 

I also am an NCAA wrestling official, and I've had the honor of officiating the D1 National Championships for the past five years. And related in that, I organize Throwdown on the Yorktown, and it's collegiate duels on the flight deck of USS Yorktown down in Mount Pleasant. 

Currently, we're getting ready for it. It's coming up in November, and this is our third year doing it. Otherwise, I am married with a four-year-old, so life is really busy now, but it's a lot of fun and I feel very productive and blessed.

But on the legislative front, for 12 years now, I've been focused on public education. I've done some legislative trips to Finland and Estonia just for looking at their educational outputs and their educational systems. 

I continue to serve on EOC. I've been on EOC for seven or eight years now. That's education oversight. I was on CERRA, but I got off of it once I got onto Ways and Means. On Ways and Means, I'm on the K-12 subcommittee that oversees the K-12 budget, and there's only four of us that are on that subcommittee. Nearly all of my time for legislative purposes is in the public education arena, and that's where I focus. 

So ultimately, I'm running. One, I think experience does matter. Having the relationships and knowing how things work in Columbia, I think, is very important, and it's one of the main reasons that I decided to run. It's not a given for me every time. This is a sacrifice in a lot of ways, going to Columbia as much as we do. But I don't feel that there's anyone better in my hometown that can serve right now. 

Then on a more statewide level, I hope to have the reputation that I'm a hard worker, that I'm transparent, and that I focus on what matters to people. And so looking to be reelected on a seventh turn. Can't believe it.

Katy Smith:

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

Neal Collins:

Well, 12 years now, giving out my cell phone to anybody and everybody. And if I do have a constituent out there, it's 864-350-4175. I do believe that I have a pretty good sense about what people care about, at least in District 5. And it's common sense stuff. 

You want to keep taxes low. You want to have a good quality of life. You want a good public education system. You want roads improved as much as possible, and you want clean water and power that's reliable. 

As much criticism as there is of government and state and local government, I do think on a state level, we are addressing a lot of those issues. If we were not, I would get out. But despite some of the things that you hear, especially on social media, I think we have focus on those. 

I think that's one of the reasons South Carolina for the second straight year is the fastest growing state in the nation, because all of those, I think we're not necessarily perfect at—we won't ever be—but that we at least focus on them and we're trying to improve each of those.

Katy Smith:

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

Neal Collins:

A plan is hopefully what I have already done a lot in the past. Going to roads, for example, we have one of our worst roads here in Easley currently getting paved. It's been a couple of years in the process. 

I see my role as educating the district about how extremely complex roads are and how very, very expensive they are compared to what relatively low taxes we pay into roads. That's always a tough conversation to have, because some people think that just because they pay any tax, everything should be solved. 

The practical reality is roads are very, very expensive, and it takes years to complete a project. So it's a tough communication, especially in our 24/7 world wanting immediate return or immediate answers. 

On the education front, again, I'm a big public school supporter. That being said, I think there's a lot of improvements that we need to make, and a lot of that is returning back to having teachers have autonomy in their classrooms and over their subjects. 

It's a long discussion. It can't be done in just these 10 minutes; we could spend days on it. I'm currently writing a thesis on it, but that's going to be more and more of my focus: improving the quality of public education and supporting it. 

Ultimately, the other stuff, the quality of life, the low taxes—that is continuing what we're doing. I think that's conserving as much land as we possibly can, encouraging smart planning that every community, at least every growth community, is struggling with right now, and then supporting our utilities to the best of our ability, especially since we are growing as quickly as we are.

Katy Smith:

Thank you. We have a couple more minutes. Is there anything else you'd like to share with listeners?

Neal Collins:

Just one thing. I guess this is my status after 12 years: I don't think I've ever taken campaigns or this role as this is my seat. I'm just holding the baton for right now. 

One thing that I'm concerned with, and each time I get a chance of telling the public is, every day is a good day to be just a good human being and a nice person. Everybody is struggling. I see it in my legal world of cases; every family is struggling in some way. I know taxpayers are struggling. I know pocketbooks are hurting. 

All that being said, there are a lot of good people serving, some sacrificing a lot to represent you on a local county, city, school board, state House, and federal level. I think it's incumbent upon us to just be kind and everybody work together in your communities, and let's all just make our communities a better place.

Katy Smith:

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

Neal Collins:

Absolutely. Thank you for the invite, Katy.

Meet David Jones: South Carolina House of Representatives District 5 Candidate

Katy Smith:

Next up is David Jones. I'm pleased to be joined by David Jones, who is running for South Carolina House of Representatives in District 5. David, thank you so much for being here.

David Jones:

Well, thank you for having me, Katy.

Katy Smith:

Tell us about yourself and why you're running for this office.

David Jones:

About myself, I'm originally a Northerner from Rhode Island, moved down to South Carolina. I like the area. I'm actually in the sleepy town of Liberty and enjoying getting away from the city life. 

That's pretty much me in a nutshell: a former Army vet, disabled Army vet, and a local business owner. I own a bonding business, a dumpster business, a gun store business. So trying to make the efforts work here, small working man living the American dream.

David Jones: Economic Inequality and Rising Costs

Katy Smith:

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

David Jones:

Currently, right now, I would believe it would be the inequality when it comes to money. It's just getting worse and worse to be able to pay for food, gas, and any other necessities for people. 

It's all due to the higher prices in gases, high prices in foods, high prices in just about everything, making it difficult for everybody in the community in and of itself. 

I'm noticing now that because of these problems, food pantries are running low on supplies, you name it. Even hardships for students taking home school lunches, et cetera.

Katy Smith:

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

David Jones:

Well, it's kind of difficult, this being my first time in this rodeo, so to speak, in the political arena, but I'll try to pass as much as I can that actually helps our constituents. 

There's a lot that's been passed. We just can't pay any more taxes. We just can't deal with any of these shortages. I don't mean in the sense that this is causing some dread, but it's just causing harder and harder hardships for our constituents, even myself. 

It's just hard to get through day by day. And that's what we need to try to do: help everybody get through these things and make no-nonsense decisions in the State House to help our South Carolinians get through the day a lot better.

Katy Smith:

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

David Jones:

I understand that I'm a Democrat. For those Republicans that are listening, it doesn't mean that I'm a bad word in the sense of I'm here for the people. It's not just those that vote Democrat; I'm also here for you as a Republican because we're all feeling the same thing. 

We're all feeling the squeeze. We're all losing land. The farmers are having to lose their lands because they can't make ends meet. Actually, it's a dream of mine to make it to a farm. 

So that being said, I'm there with you. I understand. I'm a small business owner getting the squeeze, and I think that small businesses need that help, too. We need a bigger drive to keep that push going, because as we lose small businesses and big corporations take over, there's less competition and we're just paying higher and higher prices for stuff that we need.

Katy Smith:

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

David Jones:

Thank you.