Jen Gibson
Jen Gibson (Democratic Party) ran for election to the South Carolina House of Representatives to represent District 99. She lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Gibson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
In addition to running as a Democratic Party candidate, Gibson cross-filed to also run with the Working Families Party in 2018.[1]
In 2020, Gibson participated in a Candidate Conversation hosted by Ballotpedia and EnCiv. Click here to view the recording.
Biography
Jen Gibson was born in Columbus, Ohio. She earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the College of Charleston in 2001. Gibson's career experience includes working as the director of philanthropy for Trident Literacy Association and as the owner and head of sales at Wanderlust Travel Boutique.[2][3]
Elections
2020
See also: South Carolina House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 99
Mark Smith defeated Jen Gibson in the general election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 99 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mark Smith (R) | 64.3 | 17,711 |
 | Jen Gibson (D)  | 35.6 | 9,816 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 26 | ||
| Total votes: 27,553 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for South Carolina House of Representatives District 99
Mark Smith defeated David Herndon in the Republican primary runoff for South Carolina House of Representatives District 99 on June 23, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mark Smith | 57.6 | 1,429 |
| David Herndon | 42.4 | 1,050 | ||
| Total votes: 2,479 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 99
Jen Gibson defeated Donna Newton in the Democratic primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 99 on June 9, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jen Gibson | 55.7 | 1,218 |
 | Donna Newton | 44.3 | 967 | |
| Total votes: 2,185 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Watch the Candidate Conversation for this race!
Republican primary election
Republican primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 99
Mark Smith and David Herndon advanced to a runoff. They defeated Chris Staubes and Shawn Pinkston in the Republican primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 99 on June 9, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mark Smith | 33.8 | 1,989 |
| ✔ | David Herndon | 26.1 | 1,537 | |
 | Chris Staubes | 22.3 | 1,313 | |
| Shawn Pinkston | 17.7 | 1,041 | ||
| Total votes: 5,880 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2018
General election
General election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 99
Incumbent Nancy Mace defeated Jen Gibson in the general election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 99 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Nancy Mace (R) | 61.0 | 10,836 |
| Jen Gibson (D) | 39.0 | 6,927 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 9 | ||
| Total votes: 17,772 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 99
Jen Gibson advanced from the Democratic primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 99 on June 12, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Jen Gibson |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 99
Incumbent Nancy Mace advanced from the Republican primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 99 on June 12, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Nancy Mace |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2020
Candidate Conversations
Candidate Conversations is a virtual debate format that allows voters to easily get to know their candidates through a short video Q&A.
Click below to watch the conversation for this race.
Video for Ballotpedia
| Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released July 8, 2020 |
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jen Gibson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Gibson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Jen serves on several boards dedicated to improving the lives of people living in economically depressed communities. She is active in women's networking groups where she mentors young women as they begin their careers. She was a graduate of Emerge SC and went on to join the Board of Directors in 2019. She has been active in the Democratic Party for many years and currently serves as 2nd Vice Chair in Berkeley County.
Jen loves animals and is a proud mom of Figaro and Mr. Snuggles. She loves to garden and read. Jen's greatest joy is making new friends which makes running for office a little easier.
- I will fight to keep your tax dollars in your public schools.
- I will protect the beautiful waterways that make our community so special.
- I will make our roads safer and reduce traffic.
Elected officials should have excellent communication skills and be able to work well with members of their own party and those on the opposite aisle. Policy is created through discussion and compromise among stakeholders, and there is no room in the process for inflated egos or self interest.
We should be good listeners. We can only solve a problem, if we know about it. We must be accessible and attentive.
Transportation is another major issue facing our state. The James B Edwards Bridge, Interstate 526, and Highway 41 are just a few examples of major routes serving the district that will require major investments in the near future. My priority will be to draft legislation that requires transparency, public input, stakeholder collaboration, and long term planning goals by the Department of Transportation. For too long, major decisions about our roads and bridges have been made in back rooms by a few powerful business interests. I will put public pressure on the Department of Transportation, General Assembly, and Governor's office to create a sustainable strategy that works for all South Carolinians and protects our natural resources.
District 99 spans two counties, four municipalities and two unincorporated areas. That is four mayors and forty-nine council members plus their various staff and commission members that must work together to establish what works best for the district. It is the definition of inefficiency. The representative for District 99 was elected in 2000 and went unchallenged until he resigned his seat after being convicted of corruption charges seventeen years later. We deserve fair elections and fair redistricting is how we get them.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2018
Ballotpedia biographical submission form
The candidate completed Ballotpedia's biographical information submission form:
| “ | What is your political philosophy?
Jen Gibson is an enthusiastic community advocate, a small business owner, a dedicated mother & wife and a committed public servant. It is her goal to give a voice and a presence to those that are underrepresented or even ignored in her district by current decision makers. She believes the path to solutions lies in diversity and innovation. Two years ago, Jen's son was in crisis during the first grade. It was his third school in his short academic career, and it was clear he needed a professional evaluation to determine his specific challenges. Her family was hit with the reality of a broken education and mental health system in South Carolina. As she was helping her son with special needs navigate the world around him, her father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It was his third fight against cancer and he fought hard, but he succumbed to the horrid disease after 9 months. The experiences devastated her, and she realized the only way she made it through was with their access to good health insurance and financial resources to go outside of the education and health care system. She committed herself to improving these broken systems, so every South Carolinian would have access to these basic services regardless of their financial status. Her advocacy brought her to the South Carolina State House to work with all branches of government, political parties, and interest groups to create meaningful reform and accountability to every department managed by the state government. Is there anything you would like to add? Jen Gibson was endorsed by the Charleston City Paper, South Carolina Education Association, SC Equality, Planned Parenthood Votes South Atlantic, AFL-CIO South Carolina for the 2018 general election for SC House District 99. [4] |
” |
| —Jen Gibson[5] | ||
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ South Carolina Election Commission, "2018 List of Candidates," accessed October 29, 2018
- ↑ Information submitted on Ballotpedia’s biographical information submission form on November 1, 2018
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 8, 2020
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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