House District 99 candidate profiles

The election for the South Carolina State House District 99 seat is less than a month away, but how much do you know about the two candidates vying for the post?

While there have been numerous stories in recent months about why they are running, The Daniel Island News wanted to get to know the candidates a little bit better before the election on Jan. 16, 2018.

Read the profiles below about Republican Nancy Mace of Daniel Island and Democrat Cindy Boatwright of Mount Pleasant to learn more about each candidate.

CINDY BOATWRIGHT (D)

Q: Going forward in the campaign, what are the important issues to you?
A: Important issues are infrastructure and our roads because they frustrate people. But I think that’s complicated and will require a reorganization of the Department of Transportation to really fix that. I think the legislature is starting to address that. Other important issues to me are the corruption and cronyism in the State House that are really costing the state money and immobilizing our progress. They’re just not getting anything done. There’s a lot of mismanagement in my opinion. I also really care about the education in the state. I feel, especially with the courts bailing on Abbyville, that we need representatives in our state government who passionately care that all students receive a quality education in a building that is not dangerous.

Q: When first starting on a campaign, obviously you have an idea in your head of how you would like it to go. Over the course of this campaign, negativity has been used to spread information about other candidates. How do you respond to negativity towards you or your opponent?
A: I guess what I’m hoping at this point is voters heard what I said and now we can just talk about how very, very different our approaches would be to governing.

Q: What have you done for or in your community?
A: I’ve typically been really involved in youth programs. I’m a mental health counselor and I work a lot with adolescents. I’ve worked with all kinds of youth programs through churches, organizations or Big Brother-like things. That seems to be an area where I have a unique gift or experience. People have told me that an organization needs help and I’ll help. Through churches, I’ve worked with efforts like the Hibben program where they take in homeless folks when the temperature gets down. It’s hard to remember all of things I have done but it’s things like that when a situation comes up where there is a need. I do a lot of food banks. I have volunteered for East Cooper Meals on Wheels. I’m a person who looks to fill the needs of the community, especially as a Christian. I follow the teachings of Jesus to care for those less fortunate than us.

Q: How would your parents describe you?
A: My mother would probably describe me as a force of nature that is difficult to contain. My father would just roll his eyes.

Q: How would your friends describe you?
A: I think my friends would describe me as fun, funny and loyal. I have had a lot of good friends for a long time. I was just in Nashville for the third retirement party for a college buddy of mine who has been a dear friend. It was great. Friends and family are the most important to me.

Q: Do you have a favorite quote?
A: Here’s the quote we say most in my family: “$5 charge for whining.” We even have a plaque.

Q: What is a fun fact that only someone close to you would know about you?
A: My father was a famous golfer. He was head of the United States Golf Association. His name was T.J. Boatwright. He had a fabulous golf game to the day he died. His putter was incased in memoriam. My brother was a scratch golfer. My son is a scratch golfer. I cannot play the game to save my life. I have my mother’s golf swing. People will say, “aren’t you a Boatwright?” I love playing golf but I’m not good. It’s funny because it comes up very regularly.

Q: Do you have a favorite memory from 2017?
A: Actually, yes I do. I went to see my son at the Metropolitan. My son is an opera singer in New York. He is freaking good. He’s a tenor. I’ve seen him perform a lot, but I got to see him at the Met. He had a role that he was visible and I had a good seat and could even hear his voice. I just was blown away. He’s only 27. It was unbelievable…just incredible. You just realize, ‘I am at the Met looking at my kid who wouldn’t do his math homework.’ He turned out fine.

Q: Anything else you’d like to add about yourself?
A: I think what I’d like the community to know is that I think I have an interesting mix of skills. I don’t think a lot of people know that I was in business for 20 years. I worked for L’Oreal. I worked for Verizon. I worked for AT&T. I worked as a consultant for companies like City Bank and Johnson & Johnson for 20 something years doing large planning management. Mid-career I decided to do something that helped people individually. I went back to grad school and got two graduate degrees in counseling. Now I’m a mental health counselor, which I think those skills would be extremely helpful in the State House, as well. We need to begin to reach across party lines.

For additional information about Boatwright, visit her campaign website at www.cindyboatwrightforsc.com.

NANCY MACE (R)

Q: Going forward in the campaign, what are the important issues to you?
A: I have spoken with a lot of families and small businesses and I hear most often that too many of us are stuck in traffic and away from our families. We’ve got to get ahead of our infrastructure needs for this part of the state since the coastal part of South Carolina is the fastest growing area in our state. I believe that our tax dollars are sacred and we have to spend them wisely and spend them on merit and need versus the political system of the past. Also, I think education is important. We have to better prepare our school children for a competitive and global economy. We have to be good stewards at enhancing our quality of life for work, recreation and family. We also have to address the nuclear power plant mess.

Q: When first starting on a campaign, obviously you have an idea in your head of how you would like it to go. Over the course of this campaign, negativity has been used to spread information about other candidates. How do you respond to negativity towards you or your opponent?
A: As I’ve learned and witnessed during my time on the presidential campaign trail and during my race for the State House for District 99, when people are negative towards me or other candidates, they typically don’t have much to campaign on because they’re certainly not talking about the issues that are important to voters. I would encourage people to look at and research the candidates closely and when they do, they’ll find out that I’m the best choice.

Q: What have you done for or in your community?
A: I’ve been involved with nonprofits. For instance, several years ago I was involved with a faith-based nonprofit called Child Spring International. They provide life-saving medical treatment to children in need across the world. I have been very involved with The Citadel over the years. I have mentored female cadets from time to time. Other…nonprofits that I’ve been involved with, I was on the national board of directors for the Medal of Honor Bowl Game. Today I am vice chairman of the Tommy and Victoria Baker School of Business Advisory Board at the Citadel. It’s important to me to give back to the college that has done and given me so much. In 2014, I received the Young Alumnus of the Year award from The Citadel alumna association. Earlier this year, I received the 2017 Mary D. Brewer Woman of Distinction Award from the South Carolina Girl Scouts. My achievements have also been recognized by the state legislature several years ago for my work at The Citadel, being the first woman to graduate from there. I also am a motivational speaker. I speak to a lot of high school students. Recently, I spoke at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library to several hundred female high school students. I try to stay involved as much as I can in my community.

Q: How would your parents describe you?
A: I think the best description would be tenacious. One of the things I think my parents taught me growing up is the value of hard work and nothing can beat that.

Q: How would your friends describe you?
A: I would say that they would describe me as a good mom. My children are my life. I love them so much. I would also say that my friends probably would describe me as a problem solver and a go-getter. I like having discussions with my friends, whether they’re political or business, and I like listening to all of the points in an argument or discussion and from that I base my opinion and explain how I came to that conclusion based on the information that was offered. I’ll take that same mindset to Columbia if I’m elected.

Q: Do you have a favorite quote?
A: I would say that I am often inspired by Ronald Reagan. Being a child and product of the 80s, I remember vividly watching him on the television giving these speeches…One of my favorite Ronald Reagan quotes is that, and I think it’s really applicable to this race, “Government tends not to solve problems. It just rearranges them.” We have a lot of issues facing the state right now, as I mentioned earlier, that are real problems facing real people and they need to be solved.

Q: What is a fun fact that only someone close to you would know about you?
A: I would say one of my very first memories as a child was hunting with my father. I was 5-years-old on my first hunt. On that day, we were bird hunting and my dad did not bring our dog that day. My job was to go out into the field and retrieve the birds that my father had shot down. That is such a vivid memory for me—one, bonding with my father in such a way, but two, to be on my first hunt when I was five, I loved every single minute of it. That relationship with my father grew over the years…I don’t think a lot of people know that I did that growing up but it was such a big part of my life with my family growing up. That’s really important to me.

Q: Do you have a favorite memory from 2017?
A: Memorable moments just sort of occur and you could have never have planned them. Those are the best moments. When I’m with my children and my husband, I often watch them say or do something that only a parent, I think, can appreciate. We had a lot of those moments on the campaign trail this year. I’m not going to embarrass my kids or my husband, so I’ll keep those special moments to myself. We had a lot of laughs together. My kids, after school, wanted to go knock on doors. My husband wanted to help. We made it a really big thing in the family. We have a very tight knit family and they’ve always been supportive of me.

Q: Anything else you’d like to add about yourself?
A: Nope! I think that pretty much covers it.

For additional information about Mace, visit her campaign website at www.nancymace.org.