PHILADELPHIA – South Carolina may not be viewed as a Democratic stronghold, but three of the state’s young leaders will speak at this week’s Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, shining a national spotlight on the Palmetto State.
Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin, state Democratic Party Chairman Jaime Harrison and former state Rep. Bakari Sellers will speak at the convention, sharing the limelight with well-known Democrats such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and even President Obama.
Benjamin takes the podium Tuesday evening, while Harrison and Sellers will address the convention during Thursday’s session. The lone Democrat in the state’s congressional delegation, Rep. Jim Clyburn, also speaks Thursday night.
Benjamin, Harrison and Sellers are among South Carolina’s up-and-coming Democratic leaders.
Sellers took his talents national last year, when he was hired by CNN as a political commentator. He frequently appears on “New Day” and “State of the Union” to talk about his support for Hillary Clinton and what he hopes will be the Democratic Party’s rise in South Carolina and other states.
Sellers was added to the CNN team after his media appearances during the aftermath of the Mother Emanuel shooting showed his on-screen prowess.
Benjamin is second vice president of the United States Conference of Mayors, and Harrison has been bringing national Democrats down to South Carolina to appear on his hit viral series, “Chair Chats.”
“I am going to talk on Thursday about the New South and how Democrats are truly in play down here,” Harrison said. “We are constantly being talked about as on the verge of turning purple.”
While South Carolina, especially the upstate, have not gone blue in many years, Democrats have hope. Democratic state legislators are rare, but Harold Mitchell, Jr. of Spartanburg, who represents the 31st District in the state House of Representatives and is a Clinton delegate at the convention, thinks South Carolina Democrats are ones to watch.
“In the wake of Mother Emanuel and Walter Scott and the success of the First in the South Democratic primary, South Carolina is in the national spotlight,” Mitchell said. “People saw how we reacted to these events, and they are inspired. Jaime, Bakari and Steve led that charge.”
Young leaders see the African-American men as role models. President of the Young Democrats of South Carolina Bryanta Maxwell, 31, of Laurens says they’ve shown her what she’s capable of achieving.
“As African Americans, it is great to see have these men… pushing us,” Maxwell said. “It gives us that extra drive and step forward to run for office ourselves, and that is what we are trying to achieve with the Young Democrats.”
Maxwell said another name to watch is Chris Fedalei, who is running against Rep. Trey Gowdy in the 4th Congressional District.
“There are just so many young folks to look out for,” state Sen. Marlon Kimpson of Charleston said. “Look around this delegation. These people are young, diverse and dedicated. Watch out for all of them in addition to Jaime, Steve and Bakari.”
This story first appeared in the Greenville (S.C.) News.