Descendant of Civil War hero wants to unseat SC House Rep. Nancy Mace

“I am approaching this with the right spirit of service and wanting to make a difference in the world,” said Michael B. Moore, Democratic candidate for South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District.

At this time, Michael B. Moore is the only Black Democratic candidate looking to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace in an effort to represent South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District.

Moore told theGrio that the time to run for Congress is now.

“I’ve grown up knowing about my great-great-grandfather, about Robert Small, but also about my great-grandfather, who served in the South Carolina legislature, and my grandfather, who was born in South Carolina and ended up serving in Durham, North Carolina,” he said.

“So, I’ve grown up with this reverence and respect for service…I decided to lean into this legacy and to put myself up for service,” the congressional hopeful continued.

Moore is a descendant of many successful Black men who broke barriers and went against the grain. His ancestors include Robert Smalls, a Civil War hero born into slavery and who rose to become a congressman during the Reconstruction Era. 

Then there’s Samuel Jones Bampfield, an attorney in South Carolina and legislator, and Harold Boulware, a judge who also served as a member of the legal team that won Brown v. Board of Education.

“The fact that I am descended from a number of generations of people who have actually served in office, people seem to tell me that that gives them a sense of confidence about my motivations — that this isn’t some sort of a power grab,” said Moore.

The House candidate told theGrio he’s also running for office to protect his children’s future.

“I’ve got four sons, and as they begin to approach independence, it just became clear to me that the world is much more complicated now than it was when I was growing up,” he said.

“There was this presumption that this generation would do better than the last, that young people, their children, would outperform their parents just kind of automatically,” Moore continued. “It’s just hard for me to automatically assume that about the young generation now.”

The native South Carolinian graduated from Syracuse University with a B.A. in political science and obtained an MBA from Duke University. Since then, Moore has dedicated his life to activism and public service. 

He’s also held leadership roles at Fortune 500 companies, and for his commitment to the community, the city of Charleston honored him with his own day, “Michael Boulware Moore Day,” on Aug. 30, 2021.

“I’m a businessperson. I’ve run companies and organizations. I am comfortable and familiar with leadership and all that it takes to inspire and to manage people and organizations,” he told theGrio.

If elected to office, Moore plans to tackle several issues plaguing the Black community, like job growth and healthcare.

“I want to try to figure out ways to ensure that our people have good-paying jobs and can take care of their families. I think about Social Security and Medicare,” he said.

Moore took aim at Congresswoman Mace for failing to look out for the needs of her constituents and Americans across the country.

“Republicans, including Nancy Mace, are talking about pulling the rug out from underneath seniors and reducing benefits,” he said.

Moore continued, “That doesn’t make any sense to me. A program that people have paid into since their first job when they were 15 or 16 years old, and now we’re going to come back, and we’re going to cut that.”

He told theGrio he is the best candidate to represent South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District because “I am approaching this with the right spirit of service and wanting to make a difference in the world.”

“My grandmother used to tell me, Michael…anytime you go someplace, make sure you leave it better than when you got there,” Moore recalled. “That’s something that motivates me.” 

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