Why Richland is SC’s most pro-Clinton county

Maryanne Wright survived ovarian cancer when she was 25, one of the many reasons you can find her running phone banks for Hillary Clinton in northeast Richland County.

Wright, a 63-year-old retired science teacher, credits her access to health care benefits when she was ill to the fact she was a Navy wife. Without that coverage, she could not have afforded the regular doctor trips that caught her cancer – or the surgeries that eliminated it.

“Everyone deserves that right ‑ I believe it should be a right – to have basic health care,” says Wright, a die-hard Democrat who lists health care high on the laundry list of reasons she supports Clinton’s presidential run.

Wright’s support of the Democratic presidential nominee is not unique, or even unusual, in Richland County, a Democratic stronghold in mostly red South Carolina.

The county provided nearly an eighth of the state’s votes for Democratic President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, more than any other S.C. county. It also gave Clinton a huge boost in her landslide S.C. primary victory over U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont in February.

With its high numbers of African-Americans and college graduates, two key demographics for Clinton, the county likely will give her another push against GOP nominee Donald Trump in November.

That support will not come entirely from the educated, higher income Shandon-ista voters of Columbia. Instead, it also will come from rural lower Richland County.

There, former County Councilwoman Bernice Scott and her “Recking Crew” of volunteers have not slowed down since the February primary.

Scott, 71, has lost count of the miles she has driven, knocking on doors and pleading with people to register to vote for Clinton.

She said the area’s residents – many poor, black or both – desperately need universal health care and a higher minimum wage. Women lead many of the households, and they need laws that ensure they are paid as much as men, Scott said.

They like that Clinton – who supports Obamacare, a higher minimum wage and equal pay – “works hard for the underdog,” Scott said. “Her agenda is our agenda.”

‘Most Democratic county in the state’

Tens of thousands of voters in South Carolina’s second-most populous county likely will say the same in November.

In part, that is because Richland County has the perfect demographics for Clinton – large numbers of black, educated and younger voters.

Clinton leads Trump 91-7 among blacks nationally, according to a survey this summer from the Pew Research Center. Nationwide, she also leads Trump 60-30 among voters ages 18 to 29, and 52-40 among white voters with a college degree.

Nearly half of Richland County’s residents are black, and the county is younger. It has more residents between the ages of 20 and 24 than any other age range, according to the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce.

Also, more than 36 percent of Richland residents have a bachelor’s degree, higher than the 25 percent average statewide, U.S. Census data show.

Those breakdowns helped Clinton nab more than 39,000 Richland County votes in the February S.C. Democratic primary.

“We’re the most Democratic county in the state,” said Richland County Democratic Party chair Jay Parmley. “We’re always reliably Democratic, no matter who the nominee is.”

Not that Clinton has won that support by default. Her Richland County supporters tout Clinton’s experience, advocacy for universal health care and her plan to guarantee parents up to 12 weeks of paid family leave to care for new children.

They also are quick to bring up her work in South Carolina.

As a young lawyer in the 1970s, Clinton helped investigate and challenge the state’s widespread practice of housing juvenile offenders with adults in rural county jails.

“She’s always been in the fight for women and children,” said Wright, the retired teacher.

‘Elections are about our future’

University of South Carolina political scientist Robert Oldendick said Richland County residents react positively to policies that extend “the social safety net.”

“And,” he added, “those policies benefit the groups that are most visible in Richland County.”

Clinton’s call to make college affordable also is popular among younger voters here – many who attend USC or other colleges in town.

“College affordability is a very hot topic,” said Lauren Bilton, third vice chair of the S.C. Democratic Party, whose has worked this fall to turn out young voters for Clinton. “The financial burden that can be placed on some of these young adults is an insurmountable amount of stress.”

Then, there are social issues, including race relations, and gay and transgender rights.

“You have a lot of very thoughtful, educated voters who look at issues like appointments to the Supreme Court and don’t want to see Trump appointments, which would turn back the clock on freedoms in our nation,” said state Rep. James Smith, D-Richland. “Elections are about our future. They always are.”

This story was originally published September 30, 2016 at 7:03 PM with the headline "Why Richland is SC’s most pro-Clinton county."