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Former South Carolina governor and presidential candidate Nikki Haley shakes hands with voters at rally in Veterans Park in Bamberg.
Alan Kennedy, a Republican voter who plans to vote for Trump in the primary, is frustrated with the lack of attention to rural communities.
Amidst South Carolina’s presidential primaries, The People-Sentinel has been interviewing local voters in both the Democratic and Republican parties. Across party lines, The People-Sentinel observed a shared frustration among local voters: that their respective party does not listen to their voice and their communities.
The Republican primary, which will be held on Saturday, February 24, has two remaining candidates: former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and former president Donald Trump. On February 13, Haley made a campaign stop to Veterans Park in her hometown of Bamberg.
Among local Republicans interviewed, top issues were the cost-of-living crisis, opportunities in rural communities, national security and the fentanyl crisis.
Unheard and frustrated
Like local Democrats, local Republicans expressed frustration with the tone and direction of the presidential race.
Alan Kennedy, a local Republican voter who plans to vote for Trump in the primary, said he is frustrated with major media outlets’ coverage of the presidential race, as well as the lack of focus on kitchen table issues. Kennedy also feels that the political system no longer pays attention to rural communities like Barnwell, his hometown.
“[I] absolutely feel that [way] just because we’re so small and we’re not as populated,” Kennedy said. “I feel like our voices would be heard better like they were under the previous administration.”
This feeling of rural political isolation was shared by Owen Maxwell, a local Republican who attended Haley’s Bamberg rally.
“Votes come from large, populated areas, so where there are no votes there’s no interest,” Maxwell said. “We’re behind, we’re overlooked.”
For David Peachey, a Republican voter who said he prioritizes policy when choosing who to vote for, the lack of emphasis on economic policy issues is disappointing.
“You’ve got Haley talking about Trump, you’ve got Trump talking bad about Haley,” Peachey said. “It’s just drama. I don’t care about that. I care about policies.”
Inflation
Like local Democrats, local Republicans described the cost-of-living crisis as a top issue for them that they feel is not being taken seriously by either political party.
For Kennedy, who faces an hour round trip with his wife to Savannah River Site every day, the fluctuating price of diesel has been a source of economic stress. Each time the price of gas fluctuates, Kennedy feels it in his wallet. Although Kennedy plans to vote for Trump in the primary, he is frustrated with the candidates’ lack of focus on policy-related issues this election cycle.
“It feels like those [issues] aren’t being addressed at all,” Kennedy said. “They know we’re struggling, so I don’t know why they don’t address that. That is frustrating.”
In June 2022, the inflation rate in the southeast peaked at 9.8 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index. It has since fallen to 3.4 percent in the region, a change that the Biden administration has taken credit for. However, the Consumer Price Index — considered the go-to for inflation data — does not consider interest rates part of inflation, which have been raised significantly. For farmers and ranchers in agricultural communities like Barnwell and Allendale counties, credit is the lifeblood of their economy.
Peachey is a cattle farmer who plans to vote for Trump, as he remembers more manageable costs during Trump’s term. However, Peachey said he is open to crossing party lines and voting for Democrats if he felt their policies could help him get by.
“For me and my family, we own a cattle farm,” said Peachey. “It costs money to keep animals alive. When I have to buy hay, when I have to buy feed, when I have to buy minerals, when I have to buy medicine, everything is up.”
In addition to higher interest rates, farmers in the region like Peachey are facing higher prices on the equipment and commodities they need every day. Inflation on many of these commodities can be attributed to shocks to the global supply chain, the war in Ukraine, and Wall Street speculation, according to consumer rights advocacy group Public Citizen.
Other forms of inflation, like rising food prices, were frequently mentioned by Republican voters.
“Your wages don’t increase, but everything else is up,” said Kennedy, who described prices at the grocery store as “insane.” “Money feels like it’s being wasted. We have three kids, so for us our bills went up significantly.”
In the years to come, food inflation is expected to worsen. As the continued burning of fossil fuels pushes average global temperatures higher and higher, crop failures are expected to double current food inflation rates by 2030, according to research by the European Central Bank. Crop failures caused by the global climate crisis — which has been denied by Trump, minimized by Haley and worsened by President Biden’s expansion of oil and gas drilling — were one of the contributing factors to the 2022 inflation surge.
Education and rural opportunities
Aside from inflation and transportation, Maxwell said education and job training for rural communities are top issues for him.
“We’ve got to get rural America educated,” Maxwell said. “We need to focus on tech schools, job training. People need to know how to work and do specialized jobs.”
After years of industrial decline, new industry is beginning to return to South Carolina, particularly renewable energy spurred by the Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden signed into law in 2022. Additionally, local schools and the state of South Carolina have been increasing workforce development programs in rural communities.
At the Bamberg rally, Haley criticized Trump for focusing on his court cases and not policy-related issues, particularly education.
“At no point did [Trump] talk about that only 31 percent of eighth graders in our country are proficient in reading,” Haley said. “[We need] a mandate to get our kids reading again and going back to the basics in education.”
Allie P., a local Republican voter who wants to be an English teacher, said she identified with Haley’s discussions of failures within the education system, particularly illiteracy rates among young people. This issue, she feels, has gone unaddressed by the other candidates.
“Like she was mentioning, after school programs and [having] teachers who are willing to really … go one-on-one to really help [students] improve in that category,” Allie said. “The other candidates, they don’t mention it.”
Other issues
Other issues local Republicans interviewed by The People-Sentinel raised were the fentanyl crisis, national security, and foreign policy.
In Barnwell, Allendale and other South Carolina communities, the fentanyl crisis has been linked to numerous overdose deaths, as previously reported by The People-Sentinel. In 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 112,000 overdose deaths, a record high. Under the leadership of Haley, Trump and Biden, the overdose crisis worsened in South Carolina, according to overdose data.
Foreign policy was also a top issue for local Republicans. As the Biden administration escalates tensions in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, several local Republicans voiced frustration with the lack of an attempt to pursue peace.
“We had three Americans [soldiers] killed in Iraq last week, all of which were from Georgia,” Peachey said. “So that kind of hits close to home. At the end of the day, I care about what is going to make our community, our nation, and us better.”
Voting Underway
The State Election Commission is urging eligible voters who did not participate in the Democratic Presidential Primary to exercise their right to vote by taking advantage of early voting.
“There’s no need to wait until Election Day, February 24, to cast your ballot. You can vote at any early voting center in your county,” states a press release.
Early voting ends Thursday, February 22. Early voting centers are open 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the early voting period. Voters will be asked to present Photo ID when checking in to vote.
Absentee voting is also underway, though the application period has ended. Absentee ballots must be received by the county election office by 7 p.m. on Election Day, Feb. 24.
Visit scVOTES.gov or contact your county elections office to check your voter information.
Elijah de Castro is a Report for America corps member who writes about rural communities like Allendale and Barnwell counties for The People-Sentinel. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep Elijah writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today.
