He's a conservative Democrat. Can he beat Republican SC Congressman Trey Gowdy?

J.T. Davis, a Democrat from Simpsonville, is running against U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-Spartanburg, to see how a “conservative Democrat” can do in the Upstate.

Davis, 60, announced his candidacy for the District 4 U.S. House seat Monday. A U.S. Army veteran, Davis said he is running as a centrist candidate after seeing partisanship gridlock in the House and the Senate in recent years.

“It’s nothing against Trey Gowdy. He’s a smart man. He’s a hard-working man. He’s a smart guy. But, we just have too many congressmen who are too far to the left or too far to the right, Trey being one who has boxed himself in on the right,” Davis said. “If a conservative Democrat can get traction in this district and go on to face Mr. Gowdy in November, we’ll find out.”

Davis moved to South Carolina 50 years ago. He was born in Saudi Arabia and lived in Libya for a time. Monday afternoon, he cited the year 1968 as an inspiration for why he decided to run for office.

“In 1968, 50 years ago, our country was divided, doubting and troubled,” he said.

Davis said Congress — Republicans and Democrats — are failing on a number of issues, including upholding the Affordable Care Act, addressing gun violence and updating the country’s infrastructure.

“Our Congress is falling behind on many fronts,” he said. “President Trump is right about one thing: It’s a total swamp in Congress. We can do better.”

Gowdy’s roles on several congressional investigations have been commendable, Davis said. He said, however, Gowdy and other Republicans have taken actions recently that aren’t for the betterment of their constituents.

“They’re sheep in sheep’s clothing,” he said. “Most Republicans and this president oppose every President Obama initiative, no matter its merit. Possibly the worst example of this is Trey Gowdy, Jeff Duncan, Mick Mulvaney, all vigorously opposing the ACA during the Obama administration. These three voted for repealing the ACA over 50 times without any plan to replace it whatsoever.”

After large re-election wins by Gowdy over the years, Davis said he knows he faces long odds in defeating the popular lawmaker.

He said he’ll work to see how a conservative Democrat can do in the district. Davis will face two other announced Democratic candidates, Chris Chastain and Lee Turner in the June primary.

“We’ve got a big road ahead of us, but let’s see what we can do in 2018,” he said. “Our Congress is too far to the right and too far to the left. We need to send some more people who are closer to the center where there’s some common ground to work with.”

This story was originally published January 23, 2018 at 11:23 AM with the headline "He's a conservative Democrat. Can he beat Republican SC Congressman Trey Gowdy?."