The ideological split between Progressive Democrats and the centrist wing of the party is played out most visibly in places like New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. It rarely makes an appearance in South Carolina, given the moderate tendencies of the Palmetto State’s Democrats.
But one young Democrat, Collin Holloway, is taking his policy cues from Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. “I am proud to wear the label of ‘Progressive Democrat’,” Holloway says. “They have the most ambitious vision for the future. I don’t like using labels, but I like the policies.”
In his bid to win the right to face incumbent Republican Gil Gatch for the District 94 House seat, Holloway is making many policy proposals that, he acknowledges, have little chance of enactment soon, but he is playing the long game.
For example, he supports a statewide minimum wage of $20 an hour. Companies that are publicly traded should, he believes, pay $25 an hour. He knows, however, that unionization and collective bargaining are so weak in South Carolina that it will be tough to get to this wage level.
One way around this problem is “sectoral bargaining,” which is gaining traction in Canada, Australia, England and the Scandinavian countries. Examples also exist in the U.S. Holloway is an advocate for it.
In this model, wages and working conditions are set for an entire occupational sector, such as hospitality workers. Terms of employment for all hospitality workers in a city or state would be determined by a so-called industry standards board, composed of business owners, workers and government officials. This system gives workers without union representation a fighting chance to improve their economic status without having to wrestle with every individual employer in the sector.
A single member of the House, such as Holloway, could introduce a bill to start a debate about sectoral bargaining for an industry crucial to South Carolina, such as hospitality workers. This is how ideas that seem a bridge too far finally become law.
His progressive policy list is a long one. For example, Holloway would expand the idea of food stamps—a program generally accepted in South Carolina as worthwhile—and expand it to cover gasoline. “For a worker relying on a car to get to a job, the cost of fuel is just as important as the cost of food,” he says. “If we believe in the societal value of food stamps, why not gas stamps?”
He would like to see a state-wide single payer health care system.
He would get corporate donors out of politics with publicly-funded elections. Candidates for office would have to prove their viability by submitting a specified number of signatures on petitions. Only then would they get public funding.
He favors construction of a light rail system to ease traffic in the Low Country. Many cities, he notes, used to have, or still have, electrified rail systems to move people. As the three-county area becomes more dense in its housing, something he encourages, a light rail system becomes more practicable.
Holloway may be a candidate ahead of his time. He has run twice before in Democratic primaries. In both 2022 and 2024 he opposed incumbent Joe Jefferson in the 102nd House district, and he lost badly both times. He now lives in the 94th district, which explains why he would be challenging Republican Gatch. (First he has to defeat two other Democrats in the primary: Sally Hebert, who has been profiled in “Speaking Freely”, and Bryan Sharper.)
Holloway says he is relying on the youth vote to help his campaign. (He will be 29 in July.) He has been getting assistance from an organization called Progressive Victory, which has about 16,000 members across the country. Progressive Victory provides volunteers who help with campaign strategy, canvassing and phone banking.
Holloway meets other like-minded young voters at No Kings demonstrations, and at other organized protests. One example is the weekly picketing by many young people of Elbit Systems, an Israeli company with an American plant located on Palmetto Commerce Parkway in North Charleston.
Elbit Systems is a major international defense contractor and Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer. It makes drones, surveillance systems, precision munitions, electronic warfare systems, high-power lasers and the like.
Elbit works with the Department of Defense and Homeland Security, so it is not surprising that it is a target for demonstrators opposed to the Israel-Gaza war and to the militarization of ICE under the Trump administration. Holloway has been a regular participant in the protests and has been able to spread his campaign message to potential young voters.
Whether he wins the primary this time or not, Holloway is right when he says that the Democratic Party has to work a lot harder to attract young voters, a crucial segment of the voting population that has disappointed Democratic candidates repeatedly.
Holloway believes South Carolina voters support many of his Progressive proposals, even if they shun the label. He is giving them a chance to prove it.
###