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HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. () — The race for South Carolina’s first congressional seat is intensifying. A half dozen candidates filed to run against incumbent Rep. Nancy Mace.
One of those is Democrat Mac Deford.
“My name is Mac Deford and with your help, I’m going to be your next congressman,” Deford told a crowd at the Hilton Head Brewing Company on Thursday evening.
He’s one of two Democrats and five other Republicans who have thrown their hats in the race. However, one of Deford’s supporters said, unlike most politicians, he’s believable.
“When you hear him talk, you can hear the empathy in his voice,” Ely Young said. “You know, you can tell when people are full of it or not. And just to hear him talk, man, there’s just no doubt. No doubt about it for me that he’s the guy, you know, and we’re going to stand by him all we can.”
Young and Deford connected over Deford’s support for women’s reproductive rights.
A few months ago the pair met and at that time, Young’s daughter was going through a difficult pregnancy.
That’s something the Deford family knows all too well. Deford’s grandmother Adele died in 1960 when she had to get what he describes as a back alley abortion.
“Adele is my grandmother that I never got to meet because our laws at the time did not allow her to make her decision with dignity,” Deford said. “So when I tell you that the first thing that the next Congress, when it is sworn in in January of next year, must do, is introduce legislation to protect a woman’s right to choose. And you can take that to the bank.”
Another issue that he’s focused on is gun reform. As a former Coast Guard officer he said he knows the ins and outs of a firearm better than most.
With Gov. Henry McMaster’s recent passage of the state’s controversial constitutional carry law, that brings a whole new set of concerns.
“An untrained individual out there packing a piece and if a situation arises, they are more of a threat to everyone else than they are going to do any good,” Deford said. “Universal background checks. Safe storage laws. I’m a gun owner. My guns are locked up, but I’m an outlier. That should be the standard.”
Deford will face off against Michael Moore in the state’s Democratic primary on June 11. The winner of that faces off against the Republican nominee on Nov. 5.
