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Sam Skardon
Sam Skardon (Democratic Party) ran for election to the South Carolina State Senate to represent District 41. He lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Skardon completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Sam Skardon was raised in Charleston, South Carolina. He earned a B.A. from Emory University and an M.B.A. from Georgetown University. While attending Georgetown, Skardon served as a legislative aide to Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.). As of 2020, Skardon was a director of a community development finance institution that supports small businesses.[1][2]
Elections
2020
See also: South Carolina State Senate elections, 2020
General election
General election for South Carolina State Senate District 41
Incumbent Sandy Senn defeated Sam Skardon in the general election for South Carolina State Senate District 41 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Sandy Senn (R) | 50.9 | 37,234 |
 | Sam Skardon (D)  | 49.1 | 35,926 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 60 | ||
| Total votes: 73,220 | |||
| = 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 State Senate District 41
Sam Skardon defeated Jason Mills in the Democratic primary for South Carolina State Senate District 41 on June 9, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sam Skardon | 63.1 | 6,690 |
 | Jason Mills | 36.9 | 3,919 | |
| Total votes: 10,609 | |||
| = 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
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Sandy Senn advanced from the Republican primary for South Carolina State Senate District 41.
Endorsements
To view Skardon's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.
Campaign themes
2020
Video for Ballotpedia
| Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released June 5, 2020 |
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Sam Skardon completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Skardon's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Sam graduated from the Academic Magnet High School in North Charleston and has been a leader in the effort to restore diversity to his alma mater. That is just one example of the coalition building work he did as the former Director of One Region, an economic development strategy to promote sustainable and inclusive prosperity in the Charleston area. Currently, Sam is a senior staff member to a community development finance institution focused on empowering small businesses and disadvantaged communities in Charleston.
Sam began his career by diving into the policy issues facing our community. He worked as an organizer in the Charleston field office of Barack Obama's 2008 campaign. After graduating from Emory University, he served as an aide to Congressman John Lewis, a hero of the civil rights movement.
Recognizing that the most impactful changes require collaboration with the private sector, Sam went on to earn his M.B.A. from Georgetown University while also working full-time to help students find jobs at the school's career center. He has consulted for Fortune 500 companies on renewable energy projects and business process improvements.
Sam has developed a clear understanding of the needs of our community, how specific policies can work to address them, and the business skills to get things done.- Make South Carolina a national leader in Public Education
- Build a more sustainable, inclusive, and equitable economy
- Lead the fight against Climate Change
Education is the single most important issue facing South Carolina. It is a moral and economic imperative that we give every child a chance to live up to their God-given potential and ensure they are equipped to succeed in the jobs of the 21st century. Having graduated from Charleston County Public Schools, and worked in local economic development with some of the world's largest companies, I can tell you we're not doing that right now.
Protect our Environment:
Climate change is a real and growing threat, and I believe every single South Carolinian can do something about it. The recent shakeup of the energy industry in our state has created a prime opportunity to invest in clean renewable sources of energy. The state currently has the power to require new companies in our state to adhere to stronger emissions standards and invest in renewable energy. As a district on the front lines of sea level rise, we should seize this opportunity to make South Carolina a national leader in fighting the root causes of climate change.
Build a more sustainable and inclusive Economy:
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.
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
