Bright Matthews to be second female in Senate
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | South Carolina currently has one senator named Bright and another named Matthews. On Monday, a Walterboro native with both names — Margie Bright Matthews — is expected to be sworn in as the state’s second female senator.
Bright Matthews, who won the Democratic nomination after a packed primary and a September runoff with state Rep. Kenneth Hodges, on Tuesday garnered 5,759 votes — 88.5 percent — of 6,509 cast to win the seat, which represents parts or all of Allendale, Beaufort, Charleston, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties.
She will fill the seat held by the late Sen. Clementa Pinckney, one of the nine church members killed June 17 in the Emanuel AME Church shooting.
Bright Matthews said she remembers getting angry when she heard about the death of Pinckney and eight members of his Charleston congregation.
“Then I thought, ‘Don’t get mad. Do something about it.’” she reflected this week after election excitement was wearing off and turning into a sense of being slightly overwhelmed by new responsibilities.
“I decided [then] that I can do this. It’s another way for me to serve.”
Barry Moore, publisher of The Press and Standard in Walterboro, said he couldn’t be happier that a Colleton County native will represent the region.
“As a newspaper guy, I’ve always enjoyed her transparency,” he said. “Margie is somebody who will do things the right way. Margie has got some vision. She really does think regionally.”
He said the attorney, who has practiced law for 26 years, would not be shy as a freshman in Columbia.
“She says it like she sees it. She’s outspoken and doesn’t mince words.”
Bright Matthews once served as a legislative page. She remembers getting to know Pinckney after he got elected and she visited the Statehouse on legislature-related business for local groups.
“Throughout the years, he was always someone, I could call on and he could call on me if we needed anything.” She said she supported his political career and was happy to get the support of some of his family members in her campaign.
She says she’ll serve in her own way in Columbia, but will remember how Pinckney listened to voters and tried to be proactive, not reactive, on issues.
“That’s what he always tried to do,” she said.
Bright Matthews, 52, said she has several priorities as a new state senator:
Education: “I would like to work on the education issue to make sure that our students in the Lowcountry are adequately funded. I’ve said throughout the campaign and throughout the stump that it’s deplorable that we spend $16,000 per inmate and only $11,000 per student. And we wonder why we have one of the poorest educational systems in the country.”
Economic development: “Until we get our infrastructure [in place], we cannot expect in the Lowcountry to have the companies even look at our area. The Department of Commerce is not even going to give them our name.”
Justice: “I would like to make sure everyone has equal access to the civil justice system.”
Senior health care: She said she was concerned about how some nursing homes owned by large, out-of-state corporations made families sign away rights for redress if a loved one were to be hurt or neglected. “They’re forcing people to sign arbitration clauses, which means you don’t get jury trials. That’s wrong, it goes against our Constitution. Mandatory arbitration clauses for nursing homes is not right. … They’re creating these facilities, understaffing them and the people are just dying with no recourse. That is something that bothers me. It really bothers me.”
In a state long dominated by white male leaders, it’s heartening that another woman’s voice will be added to the debate in our state Senate. But with 52 percent of the state’s population being women, it’s also kind of a shame that Bright Matthews is doubling the number of women senators now serving, not joining a vibrant Women’s Caucus of two dozen female senators.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report. Send feedback to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
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