jake smith

Evette briefly spoke to media and we asked her if she would participate in a June 16 debate if she's in a runoff. "I'm focused on today is winning this thing out right on June 9, and I'm going to work as hard as I can to do that," Evette said. (1/3)

I stand with the Move Silfab parents and everybody in York County who has stood up against weaponized government for the last two years. For those of you unfamilliar with the the Move Silfab movement, a Canadian-owned solar panel and solar cell factory with 15,850 gallons of hydrofluoric acid, 26,456 pounds of explosive silane, 44,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia, and more than a dozen other toxic chemicals was permitted for construction in a light industrial zoned plot next to an elementary school in Fort Mill. The circumstances which led to the factory's construciton, which has been tragic for the families directly impacted, are also a case study in South Carolina's horrific "economic development" dealmaking that I will put an end to as governor. In September 2023, the York County Council, in a  4–3 vote gave Silfab a Fee-in-Lieu-of-Taxes (FILOT) agreement, cutting their property tax bill for years. The state piled on another $2 million in incentives on top. They extended this offer before anyone had confirmed the zoning was even legal. In May 2024, York County's own Board of Zoning Appeals ruled 5–0 that Silfab's heavy manufacturing isn't allowed in a Light Industrial zone. Despite this, In July 2024, the county started issuing permits anyway. Upfit permits. New construction permits. Chemical storage bunkers. A wastewater treatment facility. When two council members tried twice to get this on the agenda, which York County Code § 30.04(b) requires, they were blocked. On February 13, 2026, the county issued a Certificate of Occupancy with no Zoning Compliance approval. The result was predictable. In March 2026, a hydrofluoric acid leak that closed Flint Hill Elementary for two days and sent hazmat crews rushing to remediate environmental damage. This fact pattern shows why we must exercise judgement in who we elect. While county officials were paving the way locally, the man who represents that district in Washington, Congressman Ralph Norman, was paving the way federally. Ralph Norman co-founded the Bipartisan Congressional Solar Caucus in 2018. He's co-chaired it ever since. It's the only caucus in Congress dedicated to promoting the solar industry. He sits on the House Budget Committee, which is exactly the committee the solar lobby targets. The solar lobby spent $1.87 million on Capitol Hill in 2024 alone. On May 13, 2025, Silfab announced it had sold $110 million in federal solar manufacturing tax credits, the same 45X credits that make this whole boondoggle economically viable. Nine days later, Ralph Norman cast the deciding vote on a bill that preserved those credits for solar manufacturers like Silfab, even as he stood in front of TV cameras calling green energy subsidies "the Green New Scam." The bill passed 215 to 214. He had voted no in committee. He flipped to yes on the floor. One vote. The credit lived. Norman advocated for the local FILOT agreement saying during his August 27, 2024 congressional fourm saying "I talked to [York County] council members when they asked my support for the [Silfab’s] fee in lieu and I agreed with that, so they wanted me to call people, so yes…people called me and said they may have trouble getting their [Silfab’s] fee in lieu – I said, ‘that’s not right’ – I make calls at time if they ask me to. Somebody said call somebody, so I did that.” You can't be the loudest critic of the "Green New Scam" and the most reliable advocate to keep it funded at the federal and local levels. Then, eighteen days after Flint Hill Elementary closed because of a chemical leak at the very plant his vote helped subsidize, Ralph Norman launched a TV ad calling other people "crooks." This is exactly the problem with the political ruling class in this state. Local officials look the other way for the developers. Career congressmen vote to keep the federal money flowing for the donors. And then they put on a costume at election time and pretend they're running against the system they built. I am not part of that system. I have never taken a dollar from any of these people. I am self-funding this race because I owe nothing to the donor class, nothing to the solar lobby, nothing to the cronies who let this happen. As your next Governor, here is what I will do. I will enforce the law. The actual law. The zoning code as written. If a county refuses to follow its own ordinances and a Board of Zoning Appeals decision, I will use every lever the state has, including state funding, until they comply. No more selective enforcement for your cronies. No more boondoggle "economic development" deals where the state hands a foreign manufacturer a sweetheart site and the citizens get the chemicals.  I will make South Carolina a state businesses want to come to (without a taxpayer subsidy.) I am giving the citizen a second lane.  One lane has built this problem and ignored your cries for help, the other will put a swift end to these bad deals. The political ruling class has had two years to fix this and they haven't, but if you elect me to office, I will.

Media spoke with Norman at Momma Rabbits. He said he will be at June 16 debate if he's in a runoff. "I've been at all four debates, we've had 10 forums. I've shown up at every one of them. It's irresponsible for anybody to audition for this job and not show up for the interview."