Ready to hear insider secrets from the political trenches? Former State Senator Lee Bright joins us on More Than Medicine to reveal the untold stories of his eight-year tenure in the South Carolina senate. From fierce battles against the gas tax to his efforts in protecting privacy in restrooms, Lee opens up about the political maneuvers that led to his removal from office and his challenging run for Congress in 2018.
Listen as Lee shares what fueled his return to the political arena, especially in light of the government's pandemic response and ongoing infrastructure issues. He passionately discusses the necessity for legislators who will champion medical freedom and individual liberties, and sheds light on the persistent procurement issues plaguing South Carolina's road repairs. Through his extensive experience and institutional knowledge, Lee is ready to confront these issues head-on if given another chance to serve. This is a must-listen episode for anyone interested in the intricate dynamics of local and national politics.
Ready to hear insider secrets from the political trenches? Former State Senator Lee Bright joins us on More Than Medicine to reveal the untold stories of his eight-year tenure in the South Carolina senate. From fierce battles against the gas tax to his efforts in protecting privacy in restrooms, Lee opens up about the political maneuvers that led to his removal from office and his challenging run for Congress in 2018.
Listen as Lee shares what fueled his return to the political arena, especially in light of the government's pandemic response and ongoing infrastructure issues. He passionately discusses the necessity for legislators who will champion medical freedom and individual liberties, and sheds light on the persistent procurement issues plaguing South Carolina's road repairs. Through his extensive experience and institutional knowledge, Lee is ready to confront these issues head-on if given another chance to serve. This is a must-listen episode for anyone interested in the intricate dynamics of local and national politics.
Welcome to More Than Medicine, where Jesus is more than enough for the ills that plague our culture and our country. Hosted by author and physician, dr Robert Jackson, and his wife Carlotta and daughter Hannah Miller. So listen up, because the doctor is in.
Speaker 2:
Welcome to. More Than Medicine, this is Dr Robert Jackson, your host, bringing to you biblical insights and stories from the country doctors' rusty, dusty scrapbook. Well, I'm privileged today to have as my guest Lee Bright, who is running for Senate District 12 in the upstate of South Carolina.
Speaker 3:
Welcome, Lee, to More Than Medicine. Well, thanks for having me on your show. It's an honor to be on your podcast and looking forward to sharing a few minutes with folks that are out there listening.
Speaker 2:
Well, tell my listening audience a little bit about yourself and your family and your background.
Speaker 3:
Well, I was in the state senate for eight years. I was able to stop the gas tax two years in a row, back in 15 and 16. And then shortly after I was removed from office by the. We have a swamp in Columbia, just like DC, and they spent a fortune getting me out of office. And as soon as I was out of office they raised the gas tax 12 cents a gallon and basically never fixed the roads they promised to fix. But there was kind of a joining of the Chamber of Commerce which was very upset with me because I sponsored the bathroom bill and many of your listeners probably remember we had that back in 2016. I sponsored the bill to protect our restrooms. We had biological men wanting to use women's restrooms and the big problem we had was down in Dorchester County we had a high school student who wanted to go into the girls' showers.
Speaker 3:
I remember that I do. So we wanted to put a stop to that. Of course Nikki Haley said we didn't have any problems in South Carolina, which was not true, and of course she kind of tried to change the history like she likes to change history on the issue in South Carolina, saying when she ran for president she supported it. But she in fact did not support it, she opposed it. But between upsetting the powers that be over sponsoring that bill and not allowing them to get into people's pocketbooks, we all came together and was able to put me out of office and I thought I was done with politics.
Speaker 3:
And then I ran for Congress in 2018, and I was probably one of Kevin McCarthy's first victims. I was first place in a 13-way congressional race.
Speaker 1:
And then in the runoff.
Speaker 3:
During the two-week runoff, kevin McCarthy spent about a half a million dollars in negative attack ads, keeping me out of Congress. So the powers that be in Columbia and Washington DC don't want me there for some reason.
Speaker 2:
I got you. I got you Well, so you decided to run again. What provoked you to run again?
Speaker 3:
Well, I tell you, I know we had some people that pushed back, but I believe I could have pushed back a little harder had I been in the Senate during the basically when Governor McMaster was shutting down beaches and boat ramps. You know we needed more legislators that were fighting against that because they launched an assault on our medical freedom and our individual liberties and we did not have enough legislators to push back and I wish that we would have. And if that happens again, I want to be in the position to be able to stand up for medical freedom.
Speaker 2:
I hear you, if I lived in your district, you'd get my vote. I appreciate that. Well, you're right. There weren't enough people willing to stand up and say something about it. Too many people acquiesced to that long-term, unjustified lockdown in South Carolina.
Speaker 3:
Well, you know the other thing. We talked about the roads. You know, eight years ago they raised your gas tax but the roads haven't been fixed. And they convinced enough people in an off-year election to vote to raise their own taxes in Spartanburg, and now they're pushing it in Greenville to fix the roads. I don't know how many times they want us to pay for these roads, but the state DOT has told us it was a procurement problem and basically in 2015, I had one of the largest audits in the history of the state, audited the DOT and what we found back eight years ago was there's a procurement problem and we haven't fixed the problems, and I just feel like I can go back and contribute with that institutional knowledge into fixing these problems.
Speaker 2:
What do they mean by a procurement problem?
Speaker 3:
They're saying they can't find the people to do the work. You know, they have the money, they just can't get the work done, and I think it's a combination of a few things that can be fixed. But one of the things is, if any business has a problem getting vendors, they basically go out and try to find more vendors and I think the state's done a poor job. I think the process of becoming a vendor with a DOT is probably a part of the problem, and I actually spoke with someone that's got some experience in that and they were telling me that we've got another problem with factories being able to pump out asphalt because we've got the environmentalists pushing against them. So you know, we've got a lot of issues there.
Speaker 3:
Another issue we have is this unsustainable growth, which is, you know, I don't fault the developers, I think developers are trying to make a living and I don't besmirch them, not one bit. But when you have these legislators, these county council members, basically paying all these businesses to move to South Carolina and you have low unemployment, it's counterintuitive to think you're not going to have a strain on your education system as well as your infrastructure, and we just need to kind of put a hold on this. I mean the fact that we gave a $1.3 billion subsidy to an electric car manufacturer to bring those jobs to the South Carolina to build vehicles that people don't want. That's right. To me, it's just insane, and our legislature needs to be held accountable. We've got a legislature You'd think AOC was running the statehouse right now.
Speaker 2:
You're right, you're right, that's right, that's right. You look around and you think Andy is out out of town and Barney is in charge.
Speaker 3:
It's a it's a bad situation. I was knocking on doors this afternoon. The guy told me how upset he was. He could not believe the state was in such bad shape and the liberals seem to be running things. And I said they've been running things such bad shape and the liberals seem to be running things. And I said they've been running things. You know, we. The problem is, you know he was talking about north carolina and how north carolina seemed to be more conservative than south carolina and I said well, I talked to a friend of mine who was in the north carolina legislature and he said the difference between north carolina and south carolina is they beat their democrats.
Speaker 2:
We let our switch parties and put them in charge that's exactly what's happening in this state they switch parties and they stay in charge. That's exactly what's happening in this state they switch parties and they stay in charge. And that makes me so ill, lee Bright, it makes me so ill, I can hardly stand it.
Speaker 3:
Well, it's a mess. We've got some good people running. I'm hoping I'm able to get in there Mine's a four-way primary and we've got good people running but I think I'm the best equipped to do battle with the establishment in Columbia and I'm the one they're most afraid of.
Speaker 2:
Well, you're right and I remember when you were in the Senate that you were fearlessly and I always respected you for being fearless on the issues pro-life issues, conservative values in the Constitution and on economics. They hated you down there and it's because you stood up for the Constitution and for what was right.
Speaker 3:
Well, since they were able to successfully put me out of office in 2016, they have increased the budget from $7 billion to over $13 billion the earmarked portion of the budget in 2015,. I believe it was 2016,. The earmarked portion of the budget was $315, right about $300 million. I filibustered the budget, sent $216 million to the roads by county. It paved New Cut Road, it paved Duncan-Riebel Road, it paved Anderson Mill Road as a result of that filibuster. So we had the money to fix our roads. But do you realize that they've gone from $300 million for the earmark portion back in 2015, or 2016? Rather, they are up to last year, $724 million in year marks.
It's unsustainable and we've got to have some people and they're trying to silence, you know, the members of the House that are pushing back. They're trying to silence them and, instead of some of the folks that I thought would be joining them, they're criticizing them. And I've about determined that some people, their whole goal is just to stay in office and they don't really care about the issues or anything else as long as they can get their 20 years, you know, down there in Columbia and sitting in the big chair and having people come up and ask them for favors, and I think that's got to change.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, you're right about that, lee. You're very, very right about that. Well, what other issues are dear to your heart? It makes you want to run for office well, you know, I'm pro-life.
Speaker 3:
I've fought for for the unborn. I, I, uh, I was so tenacious that that planned parenthood actually had phone banks in 2016 calling into my district getting their people to turn out, and the person that got the vote totals for my opponent at the precinct that I was working in 2016 actually had an Obama bumper sticker. So the establishment is out to get me and so are the liberals. So it's one of those things where it's a lot to overcome. But you know, I believe I pray hard, I work hard, I believe God's got a plan and it's not always for us to win, but it is for us to fight and be faithful. So I don't do everything right. I'm a Christian and I'm a big believer in grace and I make mistakes every day, but I do believe that there is providence and I believe that we've got to go, do what we can do and then we just trust the Lord with the rest.
Speaker 2:
Well, you're right about that. We don't always win, but we have to be faithful, don't we?
Speaker 3:
And obedient Faithful and obedient.
Speaker 2:
I hear you, I hear you. Well, now, if folks want to contribute to your campaign or be a part of it we only have a little bit of time before the June 11th primary it to your campaign or be a part of it. We only have a little bit of time before the June 11th primary.
Speaker 3:
Yeah it's brightforsenatecom. Early voting's already started. The election's Tuesday. If we're able to get 50% plus one vote, then we will not have a runoff. If we go to a runoff, we'll have another election in two weeks and that'll be crucial because they'll come in and spend all the focus and emphasis on beating these uh, these freedom fighters down in columbia will be focused on beating me during that runoff. So it's going to be a rough two weeks. So, yeah, I'd like to win it on the first ballot, but the second ballot, you know people need to pay attention and watch for all the misdirection and, uh, the attacks, because they will definitely be relentless and ruthless during those two weeks.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, you're right, you're exactly right. Well, I just want you to know, I appreciate who you are, I appreciate what you stand for, I appreciate how tenacious you are when you were in the Senate last time and I'm prayerful that you'll get an opportunity to go back and represent your district another time.
Speaker 3:
Well, thank you so much and I want to say this I want to thank you for for standing on the forefront and you stood on the forefront of the life issue for a long time but this medical freedom issue, the way, the courage you showed when so few were willing to stand and I think a lot of people in your profession did stand because you took that year one of the first two stands. So I appreciate what you've done and I'm prayerful that we can get folks in there that understand that we have just eroded the doctor-patient relationship and we've let it be done by the government, we've let insurance companies do it, we've let these big hospital systems do it and if we can get back to a doctor patient relationship and reduce those other forces, I think that the doctors and the patients will be better off oh, you're exactly right, lee.
Speaker 2:
You're so, so right, and we could talk for an hour just about that. But I'll let you go. I know, know, you've got things to do Well thank you for having me on.
Speaker 3:
Donations are great and votes are what wins elections, but prayers are so crucial, so folks listen. On Saturday Prayers would be incredible, because I think that I know that God listens. So let's make this happen on Tuesday, June 11th.
Speaker 2:
I hear you All right. You're listening to More Than Medicine. I'm your host, dr Robert Jackson. My guest today is Lee Bright, who's running for Senate District 12 in the upstate of South Carolina, and I hope you'll come back and listen in next week to More Than Medicine.
Speaker 1:
Thank you for listening to this edition of More Than Medicine. For more information about the Jackson Family Ministry, dr Jackson's books, or to schedule a speaking engagement, go to their Facebook page, instagram or their webpage at jacksonfamilyministrycom. This podcast is produced by Bob Sloan Audio Production at bobsloancom.
