‘It’s time for us.’ South Carolina women seek office even as sexual harassment claims continue in D.C.

When Liz Patterson arrived in Washington for her first congressional term in 1986, the Spartanburg Democrat found herself mostly alone.

She was 47, stood 6 feet tall without heels and was the first South Carolina woman elected in her own right to the U.S. House of Representatives. Unlike the four South Carolina women who had served in Congress before her, Patterson was not taking over her dead husband’s seat.

“At first, I wasn’t received as a member of Congress like everyone else. They thought it was my husband who was running, not me. Even when I went to the White House, Mrs. (Nancy) Reagan kept thinking my husband was the politician,” said Patterson, now 78, who is still an active member of the Spartanburg Democratic Party.

Since 1986, no other South Carolina woman has been elected to Congress.

Now, 31 years later, Patterson is watching what she hopes will be the second “year of the woman.”

Since the election of President Donald Trump, a record number of women nationwide have signed up to run for office at all levels, according to data from the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. Most of that change is being driven by Democrats trying to funnel the activism seen at the Women’s March into flipping Republican-held seats.

But the deluge of sexual harassment claims lodged against powerful men in recent weeks is also impacting political hopefuls. In South Carolina, candidates and groups focused on recruiting women to run for office are seizing the moment and speaking out.

Emerge South Carolina, which is part of a national network to help train and elect Democratic female candidates, launched in the Palmetto State this year. Despite South Carolina’s status as a ruby red state, the group’s executive director, Melissa Watson, said more than 30 women have already applied for their inaugural leadership class.

“It’s time for us to address it head on and create a safe, respectful and inclusive environment for everyone,” Watson said. “Ultimately, the best way to do this is to elect more women to public office.”

‘I won’t tolerate it’

It’s not just Democrats. Republican state Rep. Katie Arrington of Summerville, who is challenging incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford in the 1st Congressional District, said what is happening in Washington sickens her.

“I don’t think anybody should be treated in any way that is disrespectful of being a human being. I won’t tolerate it, and when I’m in Congress I won’t tolerate it,” she said.

But Arrington doesn’t want to be seen as a female candidate. She identifies first as a conservative.

State Rep. Phyllis Henderson, R-Greer, said at a panel discussion last week in Washington that many made assumptions about her as a politician because she was a woman.

“Everybody came to me and expected me to be sponsoring bills on women’s issues. I do economic development. I do transportation. I do health care. I do infrastructure,” she said. “I purposefully chose my path and knew it was going to be a whole different way than what people expected.”

Aside from electing Gov. Nikki Haley, the state’s first female and minority governor, the Palmetto State on the whole has struggled to elect women. Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers, said the issue isn’t whether a state leans red or blue.

“You can have conservative states that do better at electing women. In Arizona, which is much more conservative, Arizona ranks number one for women serving in legislatures,” Walsh said. “From 2009 until 2012 you had no women. You had the only single-sex chamber of a state legislature in the country at the time.”

‘Pave the road for others’

That’s why 2018 Democratic congressional candidate Mary Geren of Anderson says seeing women in power can be a powerful thing, even in the face of defeat.

She took her daughter to the Women’s March in January. Geren had volunteered for four Democratic campaigns since 2007, but she wanted to show her daughter, now 11, what was possible even after Hillary Clinton lost the election.

“My daughter before the last election talked about being president. She never talks about it anymore,” Geren said. “I don’t want her to ever think that will never happen because it didn’t happen last year.”

Geren is targeting Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan of Laurens in the state’s 3rd Congressional District. She is one of two Democrats vying for the seat.

In the spring, Patterson scoured the voter registration list in a Spartanburg City Council district. She called woman after woman, urging them to run for an open city council seat.

“I can’t run against him,” one woman told her.

The 78-year-old Democrat kept calling.

“I can’t do it this go-round, Liz,” another replied.

Patterson estimates she made 50 phone calls. They took her calls, but no one said yes.

“I was hoping my success would pave the road for others, for other women, to run for office,” she said, “but it seems like it really hasn’t.”