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    Krystle N. Matthews (née Simmons;[3] born February 27, 1981) is an American politician and engineering planner. She is a former member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from the 117th district, serving from 2018 to 2022.[1] She is a member of the Democratic Party.[4]

    Political career

    South Carolina House of Representatives 2018

    See also: 2018 South Carolina House of Representatives election

    Matthews was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 2018, defeating incumbent Republican Bill Crosby. This made her the first black woman to represent this district.[3]

    Matthews was a member of the Medical, Military, Public, and Municipal Affairs committee, and of the Operations and Management committee.[1]

    US Senate race 2022

    See also: 2022 United States Senate election in South Carolina

    On April 12, 2021, Matthews announced her candidacy in the 2022 election for South Carolina's Class 3 seat in the United States Senate.[5]

    June 2022 phone recording

    On June 26, 2022, audio of a prison phone call was released by the far-right activist group Project Veritas. On the recording, Matthews expresses a desire to accept money from drug dealers to fund her campaign and also calls for Democrats to run as "secret sleepers" in Republican primaries.[6] She also instructed the inmate to use the name of somebody in their family rather than their own name, without the knowledge of the family member, when making the donation.[7] Matthews won the primary runoff two days later. In reference to the recording, Matthews said, “Nothing I said was untrue. And everything I said are also things that I’ve already talked about throughout my campaign. I don't run from anything.”[6] She described the phone call with the inmate as "tongue-in-cheek" and argued that she was not advocating for any illegal activities.[8] She apologized for her language in a private conversation.[9] Matthews won the Democratic primary in a June 28 runoff.[10]

    September 2022 recording

    On September 8, 2022, Project Veritas again obtained a recording of Matthews making statements about white people, resulting in calls for her resignation by Republican South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson and fellow Democrat South Carolina State House Representative Justin Bamberg.[11] In the recording, Representative Matthews states, "My district is slightly Republican, and it's heavily white. I'm no stranger to white people, I'm from a mostly white town. And let me tell you one thing. You oughta know who you're dealing with, like -- you gotta treat them like shit, like I mean that’s the only way they’ll respect you. I keep them right here, like under my thumbs. That's where I keep it. You have to, otherwise they get out of control, like kids."[12][13] In a statement, Matthews confirmed that her voice is heard in the recording and characterized the incident as an attack, referring to Project Veritas as a "satirical MAGA Powered news outlet".[14]

    South Carolina House race 2022

    See also: 2022 South Carolina House of Representatives election, 2022 United States state legislative elections

    In the 2022 general election, Matthews ran in two races simultaneously: the US Senate and the South Carolina House of Representatives races.[15] She lost the Senate race to incumbent Tim Scott, and the South Carolina House of Representatives race to Republican challenger Jordan Pace.[16]

    Personal life

    Matthews was born in Sandusky, Ohio and graduated from Sandusky High School in 1999.[3] She currently resides in Ladson, South Carolina and has five children.[1] She worked as an engineering planner until 2021.[6]

    Electoral history

    South Carolina House of Representatives

    2018

    Matthews was the only Democrat in her district to run in 2018, so there was no Democratic primary.

    South Carolina House of Representatives District 117 General Election, 2018
    PartyCandidateVotes%
    DemocraticKrystle Matthews 5,577 53.5
    RepublicanBill Crosby (incumbent)4,84246.4
    Total votes10,434 100.0
    Democratic gain from Republican
    2020
    South Carolina House of Representatives District 117 General Election, 2020[17]
    PartyCandidateVotes%
    DemocraticKrystle Matthews (incumbent) 8,902 52.62
    RepublicanJordan Pace7,99847.28
    Total votes16,916 100.0
    Democratic hold

    United States Senate

    2022 United States Senate election in South Carolina[18]
    PartyCandidateVotes%
    RepublicanTim Scott (incumbent) 1,066,274 62.88
    DemocraticKrystle Matthews627,61637.01
    Write-in1,8120.11
    Total votes1,695,702 100.0
    Republican hold

    References

    1. ^ a b c d "South Carolina Legislature Online - Member Biography". www.scstatehouse.gov. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
    2. ^ "About Krystle Matthews". Krystle Matthews For United States Senate.
    3. ^ a b c "SHS grad to become first black woman to serve SC district". sanduskyregister.com. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
    4. ^ "Krystle Matthews's Biography". Vote Smart. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
    5. ^ Novelly, Thomas (April 12, 2021). "Lowcountry Democratic lawmaker announces challenge to Republican Sen. Tim Scott in 2022". Post and Courier. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
    6. ^ a b c A. O. L. Staff. "SC lawmaker Krystle Matthews wins Democratic nomination to take on Republican Tim Scott". www.aol.com. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
    7. ^ "SC Rep. Krystle Matthews responds to controversial call with inmate". June 28, 2022.
    8. ^ "Matthews wins Democratic US Senate nod in South Carolina". wltx.com. June 28, 2022. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
    9. ^ Dillane, Matt (June 30, 2022). "Krystle Matthews apologizes for leaked audio while calling on others to apologize too". WPDE. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
    10. ^ "State Rep. Krystle Matthews wins Democratic U.S. Senate nod in South Carolina". PBS NewsHour. June 28, 2022. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
    11. ^ "SC Rep. Matthews won't resign or suspend Senate bid after leaked video, campaign says". MSN.
    12. ^ "S.C. Dem Senate Nominee Krystle Matthews: You've Got To Treat White People Like Shit, That's The Only Way They'll Respect You". RealClearPolitics . September 7, 2022.
    13. ^ "'Treat them like s***': Audio leaked of Lowcountry rep's disparaging comments". September 8, 2022.
    14. ^ "SC Democrats call on their party's US Senate nominee to quit". September 9, 2022.
    15. ^ Byrd, Caitlin (October 26, 2022). ""Running for US Senate and SC Statehouse: Will Krystle Matthews lose both?"". The Post and Courier. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
    16. ^ Dennis Jr., Rickey Ciapha (November 8, 2022). ""Matthews loses SC seat; Cribb cruises to Berkeley County supervisor reelection"". The Post and Courier. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
    17. ^ SC Election Commission
    18. ^ "2022 Statewide General Election". South Carolina Election Commission.

    External links

    South Carolina House of Representatives
    Preceded by Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives
    from the 117th district
    2018–2022    		Incumbent
    Party political offices
    Preceded by Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator from South Carolina
    (Class 3)
    2022    		Incumbent
    source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krystle_Matthews