A man speaking into a microphone at an outdoor event, wearing a suit with pins on the lapel. A second image shows the same man smiling at an indoor event with a blue backdrop and American flags. The third image features the same man in a blue suit and red tie, standing with a group of diverse supporters holding signs that say "Dr. Jermaine Johnson," inside a government building or hall with ornate decor and people around him.

Policies

Representative Jermaine Johnson spends his time in the Statehouse solving the people’s problems. In his first term alone he passed a bill to lower sales tax for seniors, repaired a bridge that had been closed since the 2015 Thousand Year Flood and expanded broadband access. Since then, he began construction on an emergency medical center in rural Lower Richland, struck down an anti- DEI bill, and commissioned a statue of Civil War hero, congressman, and civil rights champion Robert Smalls.

His colleagues and constituents know this: when Jermaine Johnson says he will do something, he gets that thing done.

As Governor, Jermaine will lead with love, compassion, and understanding to usher in a new beginning and a brighter day for all South Carolinians to grow and thrive. Check out his plan for a New South Carolina below.

A problem hates to see Jermaine coming.

Two men are embracing outdoors with lush green trees and a brick wall in the background.

Affordability

It is time to reduce the tax burden on our working class. Some Republicans want to see all income tax disappear. Do not be fooled. In South Carolina, 40% of the lowest earning families do not pay income tax at all (technically they pay it and receive it back in April). Getting rid of income tax completely would primarily benefit the wealthiest individuals. Jermaine’s plan is to increase the amount of families who are not paying income tax to 70%. This is more sustainable economically and benefits the working families of South Carolina. Unlike other plans which would give more tax breaks to the wealthiest individuals.
It is time to reduce the tax burden on our working class. Plain and simple, Jermaine will work with municipalities to reduce property taxes for working families.
It’s time to welcome South Carolinians into quality homes that are reasonably priced. To compete with private equity firms that are buying up houses and reselling them at exorbitant prices, Jermaine will fund a grant program that allows municipalities to convert existing structures into affordable housing units.
It’s time to make South Carolina better for workers. Jermaine will create a labor advisory council to help make this happen. They will be responsible for: recommending a state minimum wage, removing certain barriers to employment, and fighting against dishonest corporate wage theft.

Six people in safety vests and construction helmets standing on a construction site.

Infrastructure

It is time to invest in South Carolina’s infrastructure. Our roads and bridges are in disrepair and we cannot afford to sit around as things get worse. Jermaine wrote a bill that will allow municipalities the ability to fix their own roads and bridges with money from the state’s Department of Transportation. More jobs, faster service, better roads.
It is time for South Carolinians to invest in our locally produced goods. As a state, we are too reliant on other states and countries for our food and products. Jermaine has a bill for that. This bill would require the state to achieve and maintain at least 25% in state production of food, energy, and water resources.
It is time to invest in South Carolina’s law enforcement. Jermaine would raise the salaries for and hire additional state and local law enforcement officers around the state to ensure the safety of all South Carolinians. Jermaine would also ensure that there are mental health response teams trained to handle the de-escalation of crises that don’t need armed police intervention, so that those officers can focus on preventing crimes and keeping neighborhoods safe. Police do their job best when they have trust and buy in from their communities. Jermaine is committed to building that trust.
It’s time to invest in our state’s rural healthcare access. Over a third of our state live in rural communities, and yet our hospitals are overwhelming concentrated in our cities. Jermaine will fund the opening of more rural hospitals across South Carolina to provide much needed care for our citizens.
It’s time to invest in our trade and technical colleges. While public and private universities have increased the costs of higher education, more and more of their graduates are facing an uncertain future as AI and other technologies are disrupting job markets. At the same time, our country has a shortage of electricians and skilled technicians. Jermaine allocated half a million dollars to found the Lower Richland Tech Academy that teaches low- and no- coding technologies to its students. This is a framework that has proved successful in his district and can be applied statewide. As governor, Jermaine will increase the focus and funding for trade schools and tech academies.
It’s time for South Carolina to make medicinal marijuana safe, legal, and accessible. This means more jobs and income for farmers, a state wide tax on cannabis that will allow us to balance the budget, and medical freedom for people who are suffering. Additionally, Jermaine will commute the sentence of all prisoners who have non-violent marijuana related charges. This will relieve the burden on our state’s prison system and restore families who have been destroyed by punitive and antiquated drug policies. Finally, Jermaine will put recreational cannabis to a state-wide referendum.

Group of six smiling people, including children and adults, in a colorful indoor play area with a green and blue background.

Families

It is time to invest in South Carolina’s public education. As governor, Jermaine will conduct a full audit of South Carolina’s public education system to determine how best to increase access and quality of our state’s public education. But Jermaine doesn’t plan on waiting around and sitting on the results. Instead, he will use that information to provide every child in South Carolina with access to a quality education.
It is time to protect women’s reproductive rights in South Carolina. Since the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the state has experienced increased risk to women’s health. Jermaine wrote a bill to center South Carolina’s female legislators on the issues of women’s reproductive rights before gaining input from the men in the chambers to make sure that women are in control of legislation that pertains to their bodies. He believes that medical decisions are best left to families and their doctors.
It is time to invest in South Carolinians’ mental health. Veterans, teens, moms, dads: everyone knows someone who is struggling. Jermaine wrote a bill that calls for basic mental health training for school administrators, religious leaders, and community leaders—including neighborhood association presidents and crime watch members—to improve early identification and response to mental health crises.
It is time to expect more from our fathers and provide them with more rights and responsibilities in the family. As Governor, Jermaine would incentivize employers to offer paid family leave for fathers, support flexible scheduling policies that allow fathers to attend school events and medical appointments, and establish a Governor’s Commission on Fathers & Families to guide policy and coordination. If we want our sons and daughters to grow up in healthy families we need fathers to step up, and we need to give them a path to take to get there.
It is time to pass a hate crimes law in South Carolina. Our state is one of only two in the nation that does not have any hate crime legislation. This is not about black and white but about protecting the lives and dignity of all South Carolinians.