,<\/strong> overall, they have had no issues when working alongside their male counterparts, some share instances of being forgotten or having to endure derogatory remarks. The women have had to support each other as they witnessed\u00a0South Carolina government change to accommodate women getting involved in government.<\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s exciting and challenging at the same time,\u201d said Rep. Chandra E. Dillard, D-Greenville.<\/p>\n
The delegation of women, Republican and Democrat, say they set their sights on the State House to make a difference, to challenge the male status quo and to make sure women are acknowledged in the state’s most powerful, male-dominated bastion of government. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re going to have a voice, you\u2019ve got to have a seat at the table,\u201d said Rep. Rita Allison, R-Spartanburg. She says it is important that more women step up on both the local and national level to see results.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we progress over the years and get more women involved, we will see a different attitude in a variety of equity,\u201d Allison said.<\/p>\n
Former Gov. Nikki Haley, the first female governor of South Carolina who went on to be UN ambassador in the Trump administration, has been the most potent symbol of female power in the 21st century.<\/p>\n
Haley, a Republican, worked her way up through the ranks quickly, beating the longest-serving legislator, former Rep. Larry Koon, for a seat to represent District 87 in 2004. She became governor in 2010 and was reelected in 2014. Haley left statewide office to become the United States Ambassador to the United Nations in 2017.<\/p>\n
As governor, Haley argued for lower taxes and conservative economic policies and was outspoken in her opposition to abortion. As ambassador, she was relentless in calling out dictators and refused to back down when a Trump administration official said she had been “confused” when announcing sanctions against Russia.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen women run, we bring new energy, we\u2019re nurturing,\u201d Dillard said. Sen. Katrina Frye Shealy, R-Lexington, agrees, saying that women bring attention to \u201chuman issues. Things that matter more to women, families and children.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not that men don\u2019t care about those issues. I think it\u2019s that women bring that more to the forefront,\u201d Shealy said.<\/p>\n
Haley has been a successful voice for female Republicans, but her peers say it wasn\u2019t easy. Shealy says she was encouraged to run for Senate because of the hatred towards a woman of Indian descent running for governor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis person that I had run against for Senate (former Sen. Jake Knotts) was the same person that was adamant that Nikki Haley did not need to be governor because women did not need to run for office and especially a woman who was not white,\u201d Shealy said. \u201cI said, \u2018you know what, that just angers me more,’\u201d so I was definitely gonna run again… So that\u2019s when I really got to work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shealy lost her first election in 2008 but defeated Knotts in 2012, even after a primary glitch that required her to get 5,000 signatures as a petition candidate.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody ever wins as a petition candidate, but I worked really hard and knocked on over 20,000 doors over the last six weeks of my campaign,\u201d Shealy said. \u201cI beat him by over ten percent to become the only woman in the Senate at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shealy explained that even the act of making the decision to run wasn\u2019t easy. \u201cThey told me when I got kicked off the ballot, \u2018Well just wait \u2018till next year, you can run against him next year.\u2019\u201d But Shealy said she thought she could still win, so she told them \u201cNo, I don\u2019t wanna wait.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rep. Ashley B. Trantham, R-Greenville, was another woman who was doubted when running for a House seat. She ran against three competitors, two male and one female, in 2017 for a vacant seat in the House. Everyone involved in her campaign expected there would be a runoff.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the numbers started coming in, and I had pretty much been told by the people running my campaign that I was the opposite of anything they\u2019d ever experienced with a candidate,\u201d Trantham said. \u201cI had almost 58 percent of the votes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her determination is something that she picked up at a young age.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I wanted something, I went for it. I didn\u2019t even consider that there would be obstacles because I\u2019m a female,\u201d Trantham said. She explained that when she would help her dad at Happy Cow Creamery, a family-owned dairy farm in Pelzer, there would be physically demanding situations that her dad didn\u2019t want her to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat made me more determined to do it\u2026 I\u2019m gonna do it and I\u2019m gonna prove that it can be done and there are not limitations on me,\u201d she said<\/p>\n
Even though these women hold less than a quarter of legislative seats, they\u2019re already seeing differences in government.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are strong-minded, we are tough,\u201d Trantham said in describing the women in South Carolina\u2019s Legislature.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look at the statistics, women get more legislation passed, they work better across the aisle, they do all the right things that you\u2019re supposed to do once you get here. It\u2019s harder to get here, but once you get here, you do the right things,\u201d Shealy said.<\/p>\n
According to Shealy, since women have come into the Senate, more legislation has passed that takes care of children affected by the S.C. Department of Social Services, in foster care and in group homes as well as people in domestic violence situations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will continue to see progress if women continue to run,\u201d said Dillard, who encourages women to get involved. \u201cWomen voting as well, we have to ask candidates what they will do about issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dillard, along with Allison, Parks, Shealy, Tranthum and the rest of the female legislators, hope to see more women get involved in government and sit at the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you aren\u2019t offered a seat at the table, you pull up a folding chair and take your seat,\u201d Shealy said.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 2″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.20.1″ 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\/2019\/03\/WomenP2W_MB.jpg”]<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 2″ _builder_version=”3.20.1″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||”]<\/p>\n
Rep. Ashley B. Trantham, R-Greenville, holds a photo titled “Women of the South Carolina General Assembly 1929-2018.” Trantham is getting everyone currently serving to sign the photo because she believes they all have taken part in making history.\u00a0<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 3″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.20.1″ 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\/2019\/03\/WomenP1W_MB.jpg”]<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 3″ _builder_version=”3.20.1″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||”]<\/p>\n
Sen. Katrina Frye Shealy, R-Lexington, was the first of four female senators in the South Carolina legislature. She said that senators had to adjust to saying “members of the Senate” instead of “gentlemen of the Senate” when she joined the Senate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 4″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.20.1″ 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\/2019\/03\/WomenP5W_MB.jpg”]<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 4″ _builder_version=”3.20.1″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||”]<\/p>\n
Sen. Shealy walked in these Wonder Woman tennis shoes to go knock on over 20,000 doors in the last six weeks of her campaign as a petition candidate against former Sen. Jake Knotts in 2012. She beat Knotts by over ten percent and became the only woman in the Senate at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.20.1″ src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/WomenG1W_MB-1.jpg” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For many years, men dominated the South Carolina Legislature, but women are gradually making inroads. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":19038,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18854"}],"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\/144"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18854"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19053,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18854\/revisions\/19053"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}