[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.91″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_gallery _builder_version=”3.17.3″ show_title_and_caption=”on” show_pagination=”on” fullwidth=”on” orientation=”landscape” zoom_icon_color=”#77000a” hover_overlay_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.9)” background_layout=”light” pagination_font_size_tablet=”51″ pagination_line_height_tablet=”2″ gallery_ids=”14290,14291″ gallery_orderby=”rand” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.92″ custom_padding=”2px|0px|37.9062px|0px” prev_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|18.9531px|0px” custom_margin=”10px|||” _builder_version=”3.0.92″][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”News Story” _builder_version=”3.17.3″ custom_margin=”0px||0px|”]<\/p>\n
\u201cAmerican Woman\u201d by Lenny Kravitz pulsed loud and clear through a crowded Lizard\u2019s Thicket restaurant dining room in Cayce on Wednesday, while Pam Evette shook hands with almost everyone there.<\/p>\n
Evette is South Carolina\u2019s GOP candidate for lieutenant governor. Sporting a pink suit and walking behind a smiling Gov. Henry McMaster, she was gearing up for one last bus tour of the state before the election on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really stoked,\u201d Evette, 51, said.<\/p>\n
About 40 minutes away, at a fish fry in Winnsboro, there was no Lenny Kravitz. Instead people heard the Fairfield Central High School marching band practice booming from across the street as Democrats mingled with McMaster\u2019s opponent, Rep. James Smith.<\/p>\n
Smith, a Richland Democrat with a long record in the S.C. House, \u00a0flashed his smile just as McMaster, a State House veteran seeking his first full term as governor,<\/strong> had. But the biggest smile in the parking lot was that of Smith\u2019s running mate: Rep. Mandy Powers Norrell.<\/p>\n \u201cThis [campaign] has been probably the greatest adventure of my life,\u201d Norrell, 45, said.<\/p>\n Evette, an Upstate business owner, and Norrell, an attorney, have different backgrounds and different policy-making ideas, but they\u2019re making the same history.<\/p>\n For the first time, when South Carolinians elect a governor, they will elect a lieutenant governor on\u00a0 the same ticket. And, for only the second time in the state’s history, the lieutenant governor will be a woman.<\/p>\n But many voters will make it to Election Day without knowing too much about their potential second-in-command.<\/p>\n Taking a business approach to State House business<\/strong><\/p>\n McMaster chose Evette to run with him earlier this year after mutual friends recommended her, he said.<\/p>\n Though Evette has never held public office, McMaster and her supporters champion her as a savvy businesswoman who can approach legislative issues a similar way.<\/p>\n \u201cThis country is nothing but a business. We\u2019ve got a businessperson running it, and I think he\u2019s doing a good job,\u201d Columbia resident and McMaster\/Evette supporter Michael Hallman said Wednesday.<\/p>\n Evette and her family moved from Ohio to Travelers Rest near Greenville 13 years ago. \u00a0She and her husband David Evette then founded Quality Business Solutions, a payroll and human resources benefits company. Pam Evette is the president and CEO.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I started my business, we started it from the ground. We ran it very responsibly just like we run our home,\u201d she said Wednesday.<\/p>\n Norrell was a bankruptcy attorney at Norrell and Powers Norrell, LLC, the practice she and her husband started in her hometown of Lancaster.<\/p>\n She went on to be Lancaster\u2019s city attorney and later the town attorney for Kershaw. She was elected to the House of Representatives in 2012.<\/p>\n Finding a candidate who relates to voters<\/strong><\/p>\n In their only joint debate appearance on Oct. 29, Evette and Norrell sparred over issues like healthcare and economic development.<\/p>\n Continuing the push from many South Carolina Republicans, Evette plans to work alongside McMaster to cut income taxes.<\/p>\n Norrell said a top priority on her ticket is the expansion of Medicaid. She argued on Wednesday that continuing to reject those federal funds would be “inhumane.”<\/p>\n Evette’s supporters feel that her business-like approach to things can bring more jobs to low-income parts of the state, helping those areas economically. During the debate, Norrell’s response to this was that education should improve first.<\/p>\n \u201cIn our debate, [Evette] said, \u2018I\u2019m a mother, I\u2019m a wife, I\u2019m a business owner.\u2019 Well, I\u2019m also a mother, I\u2019m a wife, I\u2019m a business owner,\u201d Norrell said.<\/p>\n Both candidates see their business and leadership skills as essential for the job they want, but they also emphasize building meaningful relationships.<\/p>\n The differences between the candidates for both governor and lt. governor are stark both personally and politically, but the commonalities are there.<\/p>\n \u201cJust like in business, you have to make relationships with people in the legislature \u2026 and that\u2019s how you get things done,\u201d Evette said.<\/p>\n McMaster has said Evette is someone who can \u201crelate to everybody,\u201d and while this only got a modest chuckle out of his running mate, she had to agree.<\/p>\n \u201cMy husband will tell you, I got it honestly. I\u2019ve never met a stranger,\u201d the GOP candidate said. \u201cMeeting people, talking to people \u2026 It\u2019s what I enjoy the most.\u201d<\/p>\n Like Evette, Norrell has enjoyed meeting and getting to know people above all else.<\/p>\n \u201cMy favorite part \u2026 is when we\u2019re going to small towns and communities that are not hubs of activity otherwise. It\u2019s so much fun connecting with people,\u201d Norrell said.<\/p>\n Whether Evette or Norrell is elected next week, the lieutenant governor will juggle the not just the job and their relationships with colleagues, but also a family life.<\/p>\n Norrell and her husband Mitch have two children: a 19-year-old son and a 16-year-old daughter. Evette and her husband David have three: a 21-year-old daughter and two sons aged 19 and 11.<\/p>\n American dreamers<\/strong><\/p>\n Norrell\u2019s parents worked for a Springs Industries textile mill in Lancaster. She took a job there, too, to pay her way through college as the first person in her family to attend.<\/p>\n \u201cWe made sheets and pillow cases, and I got to have lunch with my daddy \u2026 I really learned so much working at the mill.\u201d<\/p>\n Early this week, S.C. Rep. Jim Clyburn said he was impressed with Norrell\u2019s journey. Her experiences \u201calign with a vast majority of South Carolinians, unlike the candidate on the other ticket,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Evette\u2019s achievements were by no means handed to her. In fact, she grew up believing in the opposite.<\/p>\n Before moving her family to the South to start a business, and eventually being selected by the governor to run with him, she was raised by a tool and die maker who used to tell her no one accomplishes anything by themselves.<\/p>\n McMaster reportedly told her something similar \u2014 that \u201cnobody ever got anywhere without somebody reaching out and helping.”<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that he said that just kind of like stopped me in my tracks, because it is something that I heard growing up my whole life,” Evette said.<\/p>\n Norrell holds the same principle.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think anybody is self-made \u2026 You might pay for your own education, or you might work super hard, but you did that because you had people helping you along the way,\u201d the Democrat said Wednesday. \u201cAnd it\u2019s not just your parents \u2026 the whole community comes together to have an influence in a child\u2019s life and help them become who they\u2019re going to be. And now, I get to represent my village.\u201d<\/p>\n South Carolinians<\/strong><\/p>\n McMaster told the restaurant full of voters Wednesday that they\u2019re \u201cliving in paradise.\u201d<\/p>\n Evette has love for her home state, but definitely shares her running mate\u2019s sentiment.<\/p>\n \u201cI fell in love with South Carolina before I moved here. Remember, I\u2019m from Ohio, the cold state,\u201d she said. \u201cIt didn\u2019t take me but a few minutes to fall in love with South Carolina. I started my business here, raised my children here, I plan on retiring here, so this is my home.\u201d<\/p>\n Norrell has been a South Carolinian her whole life, but still feels like campaigning and traveling has been an eye-opener.<\/p>\n \u201cI am having so much fun discovering parts of the state that I knew about, but I\u2019m seeing them in a different way.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked what she does for fun or to relax, Evette didn\u2019t hesitate to talk up her family.<\/p>\n \u201cI hang out with my kids \u2026 We do all kinds of stuff as a family. We have horses, we hang out at our house, we swim,\u201d she said. \u201cFamily time, for me, is the best.\u201d<\/p>\n Norrell puts her family first, too, but her personal hobby isn\u2019t what her campaign staff expected.<\/p>\n \u201cThey tease me about this all the time because they don\u2019t think I seem like the type to do this. My favorite thing to do is look for fossils,\u201d Norrell said. \u201cThe campaign manager is always like, \u2018You are such a nerd, Mandy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The Lancaster representative even said she\u2019s made the bus stop in places close to the South Carolina beaches so she could find multimillion-year-old artifacts from turtle shells to stingray barbs.<\/p>\n A majority of South Carolina elections swinging to the right of the aisle, but neither Evette nor Norrell are their running mates\u2019 partisan attack dogs.\u00a0<\/p>\n Much like McMaster\u2019s praise for Evette\u2019s ability to \u201crelate to anybody,\u201d Smith praises Norrell for being well liked and respected by their Republican counterparts.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t have that antagonistic relationship that you see in Washington. In South Carolina, it\u2019s about relationships,\u201d Norrell said. \u201cNot a lot is partisan \u2026 We\u2019re just trying to do what\u2019s best for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n The two women on South Carolina\u2019s gubernatorial tickets are \u201cnot enemies,\u201d Evette said at their debate last Monday.<\/p>\n They\u2019re mothers, wives and, according to their peers, patriots.<\/p>\n Winnsboro resident Tangee Brice Jacobs was encouraging people at Smith and Norrell\u2019s tour bus stop to make sure they vote on Wednesday. Nicknamed \u201cMama T,\u201d she\u2019d been getting out and doing so during election seasons ever since she was a child.<\/p>\n \u201cI get out here and I work for these candidates because I want them to know me \u2026 Once they get elected, I\u2019m holding them accountable for what they tell me,\u201d Brice Jacobs said. \u201cNot the platform, but what you\u2019ve said to me. That\u2019s why I\u2019m Mama T.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>Passionate<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cA good leader has to be positive,\u201d Evette said to supporters at the bus tour kick-off. \u201cAccentuate the positive, [and] get the other stuff taken care of.\u201d<\/p>\n Evette has also said the passion for the state of South Carolina she saw in McMaster is part of what “endeared” her to accept his running mate offer. Her supporters see the same thing in her.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s a patriot,\u201d said Richard Peterson, the president and CEO of the Greater Lake Murray chamber of commerce.<\/p>\n Brice Jacobs, who said she did not know Norrell before the campaigns began, was asked what the first thing that came to her mind was when she saw and heard Norrell speak.<\/p>\n \u201cPassion,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n One thing all the candidates for South Carolina’s executive office claim to have is a love for the Palmetto state and a readiness to accept its challenges.<\/p>\n Evette, new to the game of politics, has said she\u2019s gotten comfortable. She has a fire in her belly to match Norrell\u2019s.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m excited. I got to meet so many in the legislature because they came out for us in the primary, both Republican and Democrat,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd through this year we\u2019ve been on the road together and working so hard, and so I\u2019m excited.\u201d<\/p>\n Norrell said she couldn\u2019t describe her journey from the House to this point in the campaign in just a few words, but she tried.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been \u2026 an essential adventure,\u201d Norrell said. \u201cThere\u2019s a heaviness to the obligation. Once you take it on, you have to give it everything you\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 1″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.17.3″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/LtGov_P2_TB.jpg” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 1″ _builder_version=”3.17.3″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||” background_layout=”light”]<\/p>\n South Carolina Rep. Mandy Powers Norrell met and greeted supporters in Winnsboro on Oct. 31 while on a bus tour of the state. The Democrat is running for lieutenant governor on the same ticket as gubernatorial candidate Rep. James Smith.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 2″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.17.3″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/LtGov_P1_TB-1.jpg” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 2″ _builder_version=”3.17.3″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||” background_layout=”light”]<\/p>\n Pam Evette, right, is running for S.C. lt. governor alongside Gov. Henry McMaster. She and First Lady Peggy McMaster, left, kicked off their last statewide campaign tour before Election Day on Nov. 6.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 3″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.17.3″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/LtGov_P6_TB.jpg” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 3″ _builder_version=”3.17.3″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||” background_layout=”light”]<\/p>\n At a fish fry in Winnsboro, S.C. on Oct. 31, resident Tangee Brice Jacobs encouraged people to vote. “Mandy cares. She cares about the elderly,” Brice Jacobs said.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 4″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.17.3″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/LtGov_P5_TB.jpg” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 4″ _builder_version=”3.17.3″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||” background_layout=”light”]<\/p>\n Richard Peterson, the president and CEO of the Greater Lake Murray chamber of commerce, attended Gov. McMaster’s tour kick-off in Cayce. Evette is “a patriot, a mother, a wife and one heck of a businessperson,” he said.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.17.3″ src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/LtGov_P9_TB.2.jpg” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With the South Carolina gubernatorial election days away, the candidates for lieutenant governor are traveling the state and getting to know their supporters. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":125,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[67,62,39,68],"tags":[349,347,346,200,348],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14269"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/125"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14269"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14382,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14269\/revisions\/14382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}