Tuesday Block 1

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>> the race for the first congressional district of south carolina is one of the most contested in the country.

Our first guest is currently a state representative of the 99th district, the first female to graduate from the citadel and she has been endorsed by the former governor and ambassador to the united thd nations.

Nancy mace.

And how confident are you that the voters have heard your message and you will unseat joe cunningham?

>> right now, it's very exciting and i only had one full quarter before the general election and we out raised the incumbent by half a million dollars and talking to the voters right now, you can go to the election commission and absentee momentum, there's so much right now, and people are energized.

We lost the seat two years ago because we got complaisant and stayed home.

And now people are a more motivated than ever to win this seat in november.

>> one of the issues that concerns voters.

The economy, taxes, offshore drilling, race relations, healthcast and abortion, and this year is throwing a major curveball, and if elected, what are a you doing for the country and as a representative what have you already done?

>> already for voters in the low country and as a state lawmaker, i've worked on every single one of the issues that you mentioned.

Filed legislations and drafted legislation, and made legislation into law or worked on it on all of those issues, so i'm already doing the job right now.

Which is really important.

Joe cunningham, he just b put buford on the chopping block, and he has voted to raise taxes in the green new deal mandates, and you are talking to someone who is a staunch conservative, and i take everything as lower taxes and i pledge to never raise them.

And as someone who started a small business and operated and owned one, i know the challenges of a small business and i've been working on those and through covid-19.

>> nancy, you graduated from the corp of cadets with as brins administration degree and with a journalism degree, and as far as small businesses are concerned, you know that, and what small business did you start?

>> i've been in business for 21 years, and i was in technology, and when i was in the citadel, i taught himself how to code html and when i had my children in 2008, my son was two, and my daughter was getting ready to be born and i knew i wanted to be home with my kids, and i started my own technology and business consulting company, and then when tim scott ran for office for congress, i did a lot of his digital communications.

>> let's move on to taxes, and in your first debate with joe cunningham.

Popping up 30%, and he said that he would raise them by 30%, and what's your position on this and what is he referring to.

>> totally false.

There are a lot of false statements made by joe cunningham and the super pacs supporting him.

Those are not my legs on the beach on those offshore drilling bills.

I'm against offshore drilling, and i'm in favor of reforming our tax system.

It's unfair.

The irs allows loopholes that allow the rich to write off their tax, and the fairway is one, to abolish the irs and glow to a tax on what they spend versus what they earn so you don't have the loopholes to get out of them paying their fair share of taxes.

And it eliminates the income tax.

I have a 100% record of lowering tax taxes, and my opponent who makes these false statements has voted to raise taxes time and time again.

He supports biden's $3 trillion tax bill that raises taxes on middle class.

He says he's against the green new deal, but he has voted for mandates to raise taxes on middle class.

>> we want to take a break, and we want to talk >> she's the daughter of a highly decorated retired army brigadier general.

Nikki haley's endorsement, she's also it endorse bid james livingston, and nancy mays, you're running against joe cunningham, the one who has led the first congressional district for decades, and what's the edge that you bring to sway voters back to republican, and what is it that helps to change your status from district 9 to district 1.

>> i grew up here in the low country, and this is where i call home and i raised my family here.

Not only in the military, but in business here locally.

I want to stay in the community that has given me so much opportunity because my life has been one of second chances but the first congressional district is looking for someone who has an independent streak and an independent thinker, and i have done it.

So while i'm a staunch conservative, i've earned awards for my fiscal policy and jobs and everything else, but i'm also known as someone who has worked across the aisle to get thins do things done.

I worked on prison reform.

And that was my bill and it passed with bipartisan support.

So not a single member of the democratic party voted against t.

>> let's talk about president trump, offshore drilling off of the coast of south carolina and abhors wind farms. and should it be higher up in the chain?

How are you going to make sure that your constituents are protected?

>> i supported the president's ten-year ban from drilling off of south carolina's coast.

And the budget that we pass every year, it's something that we also support.

I'm a big fan of alternative energy, and i support solar or exploring wind farms and finding out what the opportunities and the availability would be for those kinds of things.

And as well, it's important that we don't just rely on natural resources but look to other areas, and south carolina has been very good, especially on solar, which is something that i've had tremendous support for.

>> in dealing with joe cunningham, you wering attacked as a sim mother, and joe cunningham brought that to the floor, so how do you feel that your personal experience would enhance or affect your performance as a representative of the first district?

>> working moms can have it all.

And every mom, we juggle so much.

And compare the records between joe and myself, i missed two days and he missed seven days, and he missed votes on the inventory budget.

Budget -- the entire budget.

This year has been unprecedented.

You can't go to session when you have covid-19.

>> you had covid-19.

>> yes, i had covid-19 and i missed session because of it.

And this has been a very unusual year for a lot of us, for a lot of working families.

As you saw earlier on the break, i homeschool my kids here at the house, in addition to campaigning and being a legislature and campaigning and we can do it all.

>> amy coney barrett, she has been attacked for her religious beliefs, and many liberals are concerned that she could overturn row v raid, and you are committed to opposing abortion, and a lot of your constituents are of faith.

And i want to give up the opportunity to clarify your stance on this issue.

>> i am pro-life, but i'm also an advocate for women who are victims of rape and incest, which is where you see my work on the issue.

I've been working to protect women who are victims of assault and rape and incest.

>> let's talk about race relations.

In your tenure as a law make, what have you done to bring the community together and what is your plan to end what many call and view systemic racism and law enforcement?

>> there is so much division right now on rhetoric and divisive and people feel emboldened.

You saw that with the king street riots in may, and just in the second debate with joe cunningham, my car was keyed with an expletive on there, and i only have one car to take them to their activities, and that's where we are.

My work in the community and those communities started before i was a state lawmaker.

When mother emanuel happened, that was devastating for our community blue we came together and were united.

One the thins that i did at that time as a citizen was to start at the sit dell in my hometown, and because i grew up here, i've seen the disparities and the difference between rich and poor is literally black and white in our communities.

And is justice reform, ways that we can reform and education, giving parents to have the opportunities to have their children educated no matter the color of their skin or zip code or how much they make.

>> we were going to end on that, representative nancy mays, thank you for joining us.

>> fox 25 has reached out to the joe cunningham campaign for equal time to share his platform and