Government should be your advocate, not a shield for powerful companies.

South Carolina families are getting squeezed from all sides. Wages do not stretch far enough, utility bills keep climbing, corporations keep finding new ways to pass costs onto consumers, and too many workers are left with too little power when something goes wrong.

I believe government should be the taxpayer’s representation on retainer. When a company cheats people, abuses workers, hides fees, raises rates without justification, or uses its power to take advantage of ordinary families, government should be ready to investigate, regulate, fine, and when necessary, litigate on behalf of the public.

Too often, government acts more like in-house counsel for the corporations that lobby them, fund campaigns, and write the rules behind closed doors. That is backwards. Public office should serve the public.

The weakening of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a warning sign. The CFPB showed what serious consumer protection can look like: clear rules, public complaints, enforcement actions, lawsuits, penalties, and money returned to people who were harmed. When that kind of watchdog is gutted, companies benefit because there are fewer cops on the beat and fewer legal battles being fought for consumers.

South Carolina should not wait for Washington to protect our people. We can build stronger state-level protections for workers, consumers, utility customers, borrowers, renters, patients, and families who are tired of being told to fight powerful companies on their own.

What I believe

• Government should be an advocate for taxpayers, workers, and consumers.

• Markets need real rules, real enforcement, and real consequences.

• If South Carolina is to be a Right to Work state then, it should fight for the Rights of the Workers.

• Companies should not be allowed to profit from confusing fees, predatory contracts, wage theft, unsafe conditions, or unfair practices.

• Utility companies should not be able to raise rates again and again without serious scrutiny.

• Fines should be large enough to change behavior, not small enough to become a cost of doing business.

• Public officials should listen to workers, consumers, experts, and evidence — not just lobbyists and political donors.

What I want to fight for

• Stronger state consumer protections modeled on the best work of the CFPB, including action against junk fees, predatory lending, abusive debt collection, unfair credit reporting, and deceptive financial products.

• A stronger state-level consumer watchdog that can investigate complaints, publish data, refer cases, and push legal action when companies harm South Carolinians.

• Real enforcement against wage theft, worker misclassification, retaliation, unsafe conditions, and companies that break labor laws.

• Better worker pay and protections through smart tax incentives, stronger standards for companies receiving public money, and fines for employers that abuse workers.

• Stronger oversight of utility rate increases, with clearer public justification before companies are allowed to raise bills.

• A tougher review process for power companies, so ratepayers are not forced to cover bad planning, failed projects, excessive executive pay, lobbying costs, or shareholder-driven mistakes.

• Smarter investment in power generation, grid reliability, energy efficiency, and competition so South Carolina families are not trapped paying more for worse service.

• A government willing to sue, fine, regulate, and challenge powerful companies when they exploit workers, consumers, or ratepayers.

Why this matters

A family can do everything right and still get crushed by systems they have no real power over. A worker can show up every day and still be underpaid, misclassified, or denied basic dignity. A consumer can pay every bill on time and still get trapped by hidden fees, abusive contracts, medical debt, credit reporting errors, or predatory lending. A family can cut back everywhere they can and still watch utility bills rise again.

That is not freedom. That is a rigged marketplace.

If we are going to live in a consumer-based economy, then consumer protection has to be treated as basic public infrastructure. People should not need a lawyer, an accountant, and hours of free time just to understand a bill, challenge a fee, fix a credit report, or fight a company that did them wrong.

The same is true for workers. South Carolina praises hard work constantly, but praise does not pay rent, stop wage theft, keep a workplace safe, or protect someone from retaliation. If this state is going to keep calling itself pro-worker, then it needs to prove it by standing up for the people doing the work.

Bottom line

I want a government that fights for workers, protects consumers, challenges powerful companies, and acts like the people’s advocate instead of corporate in-house counsel.