Spartanburg County Democratic Party leader joins primary race for Congress in District 4

Spartanburg County Democratic Party Chair Kathryn Harvey has filed for the U.S. House of Representatives District 4 seat.

Harvey said her announcement is built on the work she and the local party have done for the last two years.

"We've been building infrastructure with our local party. It feels like there's enough of a support system to fight for this and also be able to carry forward what we've been building," Harvey told the Herald-Journal on Monday. "There's so many good people in the mix, really working to bridge campaigns this year. And personally, I am not happy with my representation. I think it's time for a qualified woman to run for office, that people in the state deserve better, and they deserve a choice on the ballot."

Harvey is a communications consultant and owner of Neue South Collective, which works primarily with Spartanburg nonprofits. She led the countywide U.S. Census effort in 2020 and was elected as chairwoman of the Spartanburg County Democratic Party in 2022.

While this is Harvey’s first time as a candidate, she has provided communications services for local campaigns, including Spartanburg City Councilwoman Meghan Smith and several Democratic statehouse candidates.

“We’re building a congressional campaign team. Wonderfully, in each of our races in Spartanburg County, the Democratic candidates are building out their campaign teams,” Harvey said. “We left our convention a month ago really unified. There’s more infrastructure and talent in place to help lead campaigns and there’s more quality candidates running in the Upstate of South Carolina than we have ever had.” As of March 25, Harvey is one of four candidates for District 4 and the only Democrat. Republican Adam Morgan and Constitution Party candidates Michael Chandler and Mark Hackett also have filed.

Rep. William Timmons, the Republican incumbent, has not yet filed to continue representing the district that covers parts of Greenville and Spartanburg counties. April 1 is the filing deadline.

Harvey said her priorities include increasing funding for public schools, protecting Social Security and Medicare, protecting reproductive freedom, and fighting for affordable living, including affordable childcare. Harvey, a Spartanburg native, said if elected, she would continue to be the community advocate she has been since returning to the county in 2017.

"They can expect for me to continue to show up for Spartanburg and Greenville. They can expect me to fight for what's most important to them, and to hold the line, quite frankly," Harvey said. "There's a real need to have a community voice in office that's actually out in the community, listening and engaging and representing the concerns of our residents ... So much of this work is striving for balance. We have seen cycle after cycle, how our Republican elected officials are voting for harmful policies. We have got to start electing good leaders into office, and this is the year to do that."

Samantha Swann covers city news, development and culture in Spartanburg. She is a University of South Carolina Upstate and Greenville Technical College alumna. Contact her at sswann@shj.com or on Instagram at @sam_on_spartanburg.

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Spartanburg Democratic Party chair Kathryn Harvey running for Congress