Mac Deford promises ‘bold’ leadership after filing for Lowcountry congressional seat

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD)- Democrat Mac Deford has promised to build on his lifelong “commitment to public service” if elected to represent the Lowcountry in Washington.

“It’s an honor to run as a Democratic candidate building on my commitment to public service, from military service to local government and now hopefully Congress,” Deford said hours after officially filing to run in South Carolina’s First Congressional District.

“The Lowcountry deserves someone who will fight for them and that’s why I’m running,” he later said.

Deford laid out his priorities Thursday in Mount Pleasant, touching on reproductive rights, the need to develop affordable housing solutions, combatting climate change, and healthcare reform.

“These are some of the great challenges of our times and we cannot be idle in meeting them,” Deford said. “We have the capability to address them and we must be bold in doing so.”

The 34-year-old attorney also pointed to codifying abortion access as a top priority, saying Congress needs to “right the wrong” of Roe v. Wade being overturned by the Supreme Court. It’s a personal matter for Deford, whose grandmother died as the result of an unsafe abortion several decades ago.

“I’m running to ensure that a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions, including access to a safe, legal abortion is codified into federal law,” Deford said. “It is time for Congress to right this wrong on a national level so that stories like my grandmother, who lost her life in 1960 at the age of 31 to a back-alley abortion, are not repeated in this day and age.”

Deford said his desire to run for the seat was born out of experiences he’s had serving in local government.

“When I am working on the issues, trying to come up with solutions to help local governments find ways to improve the quality of life for citizens and I see what our current representative is not doing for our district in ways that the congressional representative could be helping, that’s really disheartening,” he said. “I really just want to help.”

Deford is one of multiple candidates — Democrat and Republican — seeking to unseat Rep. Nancy Mace (R-Isle of Palms) in the coastal district.

Since announcing last May, the campaign said it has drawn support from across the political spectrum, including former Mace supporters, indicating that people are hungry for new leadership.

“I think people are looking for a lot of change and that’s why we’re seeing a lot of crossover support even from Republicans and former Nancy Mace donors that are now supporting my campaign even though Mace has other Republican challengers.”

And while Mace faces a growing set of primary opponents, Deford will also have to win his party’s nomination to be on the ballot come November.

Michael B. Moore and Ben Fraiser have also filed to run in the Democratic primary, South Carolina Election Commission records show.

The statewide primaries will be held on June 11, 2024.