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SC Democrat says she wants to be a ‘champion for women’ as Cunningham’s running mate

Tally Parham Casey is Democratic gubernatorial nominee Joe Cunningham’s lieutenant governor running mate.

Tally Casey, named Monday as named Joe Cunningham’s lieutenant governor running mate, told The State newspaper that she views seeking the statewide office as a “call to duty” and said she wants to be a champion for women.

In one of her first interviews after being picked for the Democratic ticket, Casey, 52, said protecting access to abortion in South Carolina will be a key part of her stump speech as she campaigns around the state.

“It was one of the significant motivating factors that pushed me to get involved in this campaign, and I feel like it’s a call to duty at this time,” Tally said. “This is a critical time in our state’s history.”

Protecting access to abortion has been a large part of Cunningham’s campaign after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed states to determine whether abortion is legal within their borders. South Carolina lawmakers are now considering whether to further restrict abortion access in the state.

Cunningham, 40, and Casey are seeking to unseat Republican incumbent Gov. Henry McMaster, 75, and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, 54.

The Cunningham campaign said it’s finalizing a campaign schedule for the ticket.

“Women and girls in South Carolina need a champion and they haven’t had one,” Casey said. “It’s time for them to have somebody, an elected statewide official who cares about their needs, ready to identify them, to travel around the state, listen to what they are, and to fight for them.”

Casey acknowledged the challenge the campaign will have running state in South Carolina, a historically red state, and said that protecting abortion access likely will be a tough sell.

“I trust that people in South Carolina are smart and open minded and will listen and we’re going to give them a different voice to listen to,” Casey said. “We all have moms, we all have sisters and daughters and nieces and friends, and these are issues that affect so many of us and I’m asking folks of all political stripes to listen to what we have to say and to listen to why we’re in this and just understand that the health and well-being of women and girls in this state and the rights for them to make decisions about their bodies, the rights for them to enjoy the most basic freedoms is what is at issue here.”

Casey was the first female fighter pilot in the South Carolina Air National Guard. She served three tours of combat in Iraq and left the military with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

The Columbia resident and Greenville native works at Wyche Law Firm, where she serves as the CEO and chair of the firm’s executive committee.

This is her first run for public office. And like Evette, she hails from Greenville County, where Democrats see potential for gaining ground.

With Casey on the ticket, unlike McMaster before he was elected to his first term in 2018, neither she nor Cunningham, a one-term congressman of the 1st District, will have had State House experience.

“We are definitely outsiders, Joe and I both, we’re underdogs,” Casey said. “We are not insiders, and I think that is what people want right now. New blood, new perspectives. If people want more State House insiders, this probably isn’t the ticket for them. But I do not see that as a challenge for us. I actually see that as one of our strengths.”

Being in the State House requires relationships with lawmakers in order to accomplish priorities, and Casey said her work as a lawyer has helped make those introductions over the years.

“I’ve had a chance to meet lots of legislators and representatives around the state over many years,” Casey said. “I look forward to having the opportunity to work with them in the future.”

Casey is seeking a position that previously was separate from the governor’s office and instead presided over the Senate. Starting in 2018, the lieutenant governor now runs on a ticket with governor, is part of the executive branch and takes over if the governor cannot serve.

“I think we have a wonderful opportunity in that the lieutenant governor role doesn’t have the same restrictive structure that it once did,” Casey said. “I’m very excited to work with Joe in identifying ways I can help and to move his vision forward and contribute to ... things I care the most about and I’m most interested in and passionate about.”