1. United States
2. S.C.
3. Letter

To: SC State Representatives and SC State Senators Dear South Carolina Legislature and fellow South Carolinians, I'm calling for a full ban on private money in state elections. The Constitution says you need age, citizenship, and residency to run. It does not say you need to be rich. Right now, whoever raises the most money buys the most airtime and buys their way in. That shuts out regular people. Fix it like this: We have a taxpayer fund already — the same idea as the federal dollar checkoff. Take that one pot of money, the kiddie pool we all pay into, and use it for state races. A nonpartisan committee takes that fund and divides it EVENLY among all qualified candidates. The committee, not the candidates, handles and books the airtime, the travel, the events. Everyone gets the same resources. No outside money. No private sponsors. No self-funding. No corporate interests. That makes it an equal playing field and makes public service about public service again. And put the same ethics rules on legislators as Supreme Court justices so there's no conflict while serving the public.