Progressive activist to challenge Joe Wilson in South Carolina

Progressive political activist Gregory Karr on Wednesday launched a campaign against incumbent Republican Rep. Joe Wilson in South Carolina’s 2nd Congressional District.

“Gregory Karr will not go to Washington to make nice with the establishment and the elite, because they do not have the slightest understanding of our lives, nor any concern for the breath in our lungs or the food in our stomachs,” Karr’s campaign website reads.

“Gregory will go to Washington to demand the dignity and economic security that We the People are owed, and he will fight like hell to win it all,” it continues. 

Karr’s campaign pointed to his working-class upbringing, attending a private Catholic school through his family’s church while living in a double-wide trailer, as a background that taught him about the inequalities present in South Carolina.

“He has organized and fought throughout South Carolina, and numerous other states, seeking to expand the power and the dignity of working people. This is the spirit and commitment that Gregory brings with him. He will never bow to the corporate and wealthy interests, who abuse us daily,” the website reads.

Karr put his support behind multiple progressive political causes, including “Medicare for All,” free college education, housing for all, a federal jobs guarantee and a $20 minimum wage.

Wilson has served in the U.S. House since 2001 and won reelection in 2020 with more than 55 percent of the vote.

Post and Courier political reporter Jamie Lovegrove shared a statement on Twitter from South Carolina GOP Chairman Drew McKissick responding to Karr’s campaign announcement.

“Democrats spent a boatload of money in South Carolina in 2020 and still lost by double digits — look no further than Jaime Harrison and Adair Ford Boroughs,” McKissick said.

“Like anywhere else in the state, voters in the Second Congressional District will reject the Left’s radical wishlist. We look forward to beating Democrats yet again in 2022,” McKissick added. 

SCGOP chairman @DrewMcKissick responds to Karr’s announcement: “Like anywhere else in the state, voters in the Second Congressional District will reject the Left’s radical wishlist.” #SC02 pic.twitter.com/K1a05V49aC

— Jamie Lovegrove (@jslovegrove) July 7, 2021