My name is Jensen Jennings, and I am running for South Carolina’s House of Representatives for the 81st district! Wow that’s surreal….

 

When I was born 34 years ago with Mobius syndrome, so little was known about it, that doctors said I wasn’t supposed do much of anything ever, but with the love of a mother who didn’t have “no” in her vocabulary, providence, and my own will to live, I beat the odds. I went on to attend mostly general education classes from 1st to 12th grade, graduated from University of California-Davis, a top university, and went on to work as a public servant and nonprofit professional over the subsequent years.

 

I don’t share this to get praise nor pity; I share this to show that my lived experience, education, and career have given me a wide view of the world around me, which I think best equips me to serve the many different residents and interests of the 81st district.

 

South Carolina is one of the fastest growing states in the Union, and Aiken like many cities and towns throughout South Carolina is experiencing substantial growth. With this growth, we will need to both build and maintain physical and network infrastructure, build more schools, build more residential and commercial structures as well as expand existing facilities such hospitals and colleges.

 

Whether one likes it or not, Aiken will continue to grow and people will continue to make this their home. But, what we can and must do is ensure we are attracting the best to Aiken and South Carolina.

 

This means using current tax incentives and others not yet created to bring quality employers to Aiken and our state, who will commit to keeping jobs local and human centric, will pay a living wage, and provide benefits. It means holding developers to the highest standards, and giving incentivize for those who employ things like universal design, a concept that has accessibility and aging in mind. It also means safeguarding our natural resources and protecting the environment where our wildlife neighbors reside.

 

As a state, we must recruit and retain the best educators in the state by increasing teacher pay, addressing teacher burnout and class sizes, so that our students get all the knowledge and skills that they will need to be completive in this 21st century economy. While Governor McMasters shortsightedly has deemed it unnecessary, the state must push for Medicaid expansion which will help those who are older and or have disability get the healthcare they need and deserve, so that they can fully participate in society. Affordable housing, homelessness and mental health must also be issues the state seriously addresses in this next legislative session.

 

There are many things that we must address in the legislature, but perhaps the most important thing we need to address is something we can all take a role in, this of course being a part of the solution to the poisonous political and social arena in which we find ourselves. We need not always agree, and vigorous and sometimes loud debate may occur in the heat of the moment, but we cannot allow things to become personal, for when we degrade another we degrade ourselves, and worst yet, our society as a whole.

 

Democrat, Republican, Independent, White, Black, Latino, Heterosexual, gay, asexual, cisgender, transgender, multi-gender, Atheists, Christian, Jewish, it doesn’t matter, there is far more that we share in common than divides us, so let us go forth and build bridges, not barriers. It is time for all of us to answer that bugles call to service and carry the torch of decency and freedom forward. Thank you, and God bless America.