James Island nonprofit leader Sam Skardon is the running mate for Democratic Party gubernatorial nominee Jermaine Johnson, the campaign announced Thursday.
“Sam Skardon has a history in helping out marginalized communities and individuals who traditionally have not had access to capital and the political spectrum,” Johnson told the Charleston City Paper earlier this week. “Sam’s dedication to the people of South Carolina is unmatched,” adding that the campaign’s vision is to build a new South Carolina for the future.
Skardon, the 38-year-old former chairman of the Charleston County Democratic Party who ran for state Senate in 2020, said his pick as an outsider candidate for lieutenant governor on the Democratic ticket is a positive for working families across the state.
“Our state government simply isn’t delivering results right now on the issues that matter most to hardworking South Carolina families,” Skardon said in an exclusive interview. “I’m looking forward to meeting those South Carolinians who want new and better results from their state government, listen to them, and implement a vision for a state that actually addresses their needs.”
Richland County’s Johnson, elected to the S.C. House of Representatives in 2020, won 60% of the vote in the June Democratic Party gubernatorial primary against two candidates who spent millions of dollars. Johnson’s campaign has raised just over $750,000. As of June 30, it had $172,000 in the bank.
“I’m excited about the fact that Jermaine and I are both millennial Dads with young kids and working families,” Skardon said. “We have real-world experience working on – and experiencing personally – the issues facing South Carolina’s working families and will prioritize them by improving public schools, ensuring insurance companies actually cover the health, home and car costs we pay them for, and building an economy where hardworking people can actually build wealth.”
Campaign targets Lowcountry voters
One of the reasons Skardon is on the ticket is that GOP statewide campaigns haven’t made the Lowcountry a priority, he said. GOP newcomer Mike Burkhold of Sullivan’s Island, who is running for comptroller general, is the only coastal candidate on the Republican statewide ticket.
S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson, the Lexington County Republican who handily won a June gubernatorial runoff against Upstate Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, has Florence GOP Sen. Mike Reichenbach as a running mate. Wilson’s campaign has raised $4.9 million, but had about $860,000 in the bank as of June 30.
“There’s a thirst for something different in South Carolina,” Skardon said. “When we let people know that Jermaine and I are hard-working guys who are raising young families, running against someone whose family has 58 years in elected office, they are excited to know they’ve got the option to choose young, next-generation leaders who have a vision for a new South Carolina.”
On Monday, Skardon began a leave of absence from his job as a director of the nonprofit Clean Energy Fund of the Carolinas, a community loan fund that finances things like solar panels, battery storage, energy efficiency projects and affordable housing developments.
He said he’s convinced that a Democratic ticket that focuses on family issues from stronger education and health care to improving affordability will win in a state where Democrats have been competitive in recent years.
“We need to convince folks we can win,” Skardon said. “Two of the last four Democratic campaigns for governor in South Carolina have broken 46%.
“This year more than ever, South Carolina families want change from the status quo, so we’re building a well-organized and well-financed campaign to be even more competitive than those strong Democrats who ran before us. But it all starts with people believing in our vision for a new South Carolina, and then putting in the hard work and sacrifice it will take from all of us in order to make it a reality.”
Skardon, who grew up in Mount Pleasant and graduated from Academic Magnet High School, got a bachelor’s degree from Emory University and a master’s in business administration from Georgetown University. His wife Leslie is a freshman member of Charleston City Council. They have twin 4-year-old boys.
“Our most effective leaders for delivering policy change don’t come from candidates with decades in elected office,” Skardon said. “I’ve worked professionally with small businesses to build a more equitable economy in our state and expand clean energy production.
“I grew up in our public schools, and now am raising a young family facing the real issues that South Carolinians want results on – education, affordability and economic opportunity.”
Election day is Nov. 3.
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