Chairs of SC’s Democratic and Republican Parties react to Biden’s exit

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — Local leaders within South Carolina’s Democratic and Republican Parties are reacting to President Biden’s decision to exit the race.

With Vice President Kamala Harris projected to become the Democratic Party’s new nominee weeks before the convention, Chair of the SC Democratic Party Christale Spain says time is of the essence, and unity is of the utmost importance.

“I think for the sake of our party, we do need to move forward, and I’m so proud of my delegation last night that we voted overwhelmingly to endorse Kamala Harris as the next President of the United States,” says Spain.

Just back from the Republican Convention in Milwaukee, Chair of the SC Republican Party Drew McKissick says when it comes to unity, the GOP is ahead of the game.

“You’ve got a Republican Party that’s very united right now. Especially in the aftermath of the assassination attempt, I can say out of all the conventions I’ve been to, definitely in recent years, this is the most united I’ve ever seen the party come out of. And folks are united looking forward to turning out the vote and winning the White House this year,” McKissick says.

With a fresh potential nominee in Harris, Spain believes a surge in enthusiasm is coursing through the Democratic Party — with the Associated Press reporting over $81 million being raised to support Harris nationwide in the last day.

“The enthusiasm is a great indicator on our side. When Democrats are excited, Democrats win. And as you’ve seen the last 24 hours, Democrats have raised millions of dollars, people have come out and shown their unwavering support across the country, so it’s a great sign for us that we’re positioning ourselves to win in November,” Spain says.

McKissick says no matter who becomes the Democratic Party’s nominee, the Republican Party is bringing high enthusiasm along with it as well.

“A candidate who literally took a bullet for this campaign. Got up off the ground with his fist in the air ready to fight, and that gave the Republican base around the country a renewed sense of vigor and enthusiasm. And if our candidate can literally get shot and get up and ready to fight, I know our activists can all across the country and they’re gonna be engaged and ready to do the job,” says McKissick.

And here locally the chairs will continue to push towards the November election.

“We’re gonna be focused on our down ballot races. We’re positioned this cycle to flip more state house seats locally than we’ve done this century,” says Spain.

“In the last election cycle, we had the best elections for Republicans in 150 years back in 2022, we’re gonna follow up on that, and pick up seats in the State House and the State Senate and offices at the county level, no matter who their nominee may be,” says McKissick.

The Democratic Convention will take place August 19-22nd in Chicago, Illinois.