The first black woman to run for mayor of Charleston has her eyes on another first: Defeating Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford.
Democrat Toby Smith has launched a campaign for the 1st Congressional District, a move that would trigger a primary battle with Joe Cunningham.
Cunningham has been the sole Democrat running in the race since June to represent the Charleston area and the lower coast in Congress.
"Let me be clear: I'm a protest candidate," Smith wrote on her campaign website. " I'm protesting the upsurge of racism. I'm protesting the sexism. I'm protesting that the America I know is becoming something very different."
She said she is "playing the woman card," and emphasized that theme during her speech Saturday at the Charleston County Democratic Convention.
"No party will be successful if it demeans, denies or denigrates the power of women," Smith said Saturday. "Our voices matter. Our opinions matter. Our perspective matter. How we do things matter, and we're different and that's good."
Smith, a consultant for nonprofits, was born in Charleston but grew up Philadelphia. She attended the University of South Carolina where she studied government and international studies, according to her LinkedIn profile. Smith ran for mayor of Charleston in 2015, but lost to Mayor John Tecklenburg.Â
She made no mention of Sanford in her convention speech. Cunningham began his remarks with his campaign promise to "repeal and replace Mark Sanford."
Sanford will face Republican state Rep. Katie Arrington, R-Summerville, in the GOP primary in June.
