South Carolina Dem Runs for House Seat on Anti-Nancy Pelosi Platform

Attorney Joe Cunningham has launched a campaign to unseat Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC) so he can fight against not only President Donald Trump but House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

“The Democratic Party needs new leadership now,” Cunningham tweeted on Wednesday. “If elected, I will not vote for Nancy Pelosi for speaker. Time to move forward and win again.”

The Democratic Party needs new leadership now. If elected, I will not vote for Nancy Pelosi for speaker. Time to move forward and win again.

— Joe Cunningham (@JoeCunninghamSC) June 21, 2017

“Charleston lawyer Joe Cunningham became the first Democrat to announce a campaign to unseat Congressman Mark Sanford in the 1st District,” the Charleston City Paper reported on Wednesday.

The 35-year-old went to high school in Kentucky and attended College of Charleston before earning his ocean engineering degree at Florida Atlantic University. Now, Cunningham and his wife, Amanda, live in the West Ashely, according to Charleston City Paper.

In a well-produced video on his website, Cunningham, seating at his kitchen table, plays up his role as an outsider who has never run for public office.

“I have no political debts to pay and my decisions will be made with one and only one consideration in mind — what’s best for the lives of my neighbors in the Lowcountry,” Cunningham said in a press release.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), however, is not ready to give up her power, despite calls by some of her Democratic colleagues who say new leadership is needed following the recent losses in House special elections in Georgia and South Carolina, where Republicans Karen Handel and Ralph Norman won, respectively.

“I think I’m worth the trouble,” Pelosi said at her weekly briefing with reporters on Thursday at the Capitol. “I am a master legislator.”

“I am a strategic politically astute leader,” Pelosi said. “My leadership is recognized by many around the country and that is why I am able to attract the support that I do, which is essential to our election, sad to say.”