Where Ashley Painter Stands on Political Issues

When I’m your state Representative, my top priorities will be lowering the cost of living to make South Carolina more affordable again, stopping the assault on women’s reproductive freedom, and squashing bills that are meant to take away human rights from vulnerable communities.

The Crushing Cost of Living

If you’re like me, grocery shopping makes your stomach hurt, thinking about whether the money you have will stretch through the week. And it’s not just groceries. Housing, childcare, healthcare, and education costs are out of control and squeezing working families to the brink.

Four out of every 10 South Carolinians lack sufficient income to meet these basic needs. Something has to change.

Republican leaders in Columbia, including our state Representative, are completely unconcerned, focusing instead on archaic bathroom bills and dismantling DEI. They are busy waging their culture war while the American dream is slipping away for the rest of us.

And I think I know why.

Our politicians don’t feel the pinch like the rest of us. Power and privilege have become the key to unlocking wealth while the rest of us compete for an ever-shrinking piece of the pie. Here’s my pledge to you: if elected, I will not gain financially by holding this office.

I’ll always remember working families when I represent you in Columbia because my family is fighting for the American dream just like yours. It’s time to get back to basics and do something to stop rising costs.

If I am elected to the House of Representatives, you will have someone fighting for you whose life is directly impacted by this economy. Before I even launched this campaign, my husband and I had to sit down and do the math—figuring out how we would afford childcare, travel to and from Columbia, and still care for our kids while he continues working full time as our sole provider.

And I want you to really sit with this: I will not gain financially by holding this office. This will be a sacrifice for my family. It will be a struggle. But together, we decided that the outcome—fighting for families like ours—is worth it.

Womens Reproductive Freedom

For as long as this country has existed, women have been treated as less than. And I am tired of it. I have been tired of it.

Our leaders should be building a future where our daughters never have to fear what will happen to them if they are raped—yet here we are. My opponent supports the death penalty for women who have abortions, as well as for the medical providers who care for them. If my opponent has it his way, any female child who has experienced puberty (which happens on average between 8 and 13 years old) would be forced to give birth if she became pregnant; even if that pregnancy is a result of rape, incest, or both. That is not justice. That is extremism. And it is absolute madness.

I don’t know about you, but when I delivered my children, the delivery room wasn’t big enough for my husband, my doctor, and South Carolina’s state government. But that’s exactly what we have thanks to an activist US Supreme Court and state lawmakers like my opponent.

Human Rights

From the moment our Constitution was written, it claimed to protect human rights—but in practice, those protections were designed almost exclusively for white people. Everyone else had to fight, bleed, organize, and demand to be included. And today, we are watching in real time what happens when those hard-won rights are challenged, rolled back, or stripped away entirely.

We need lawmakers in the House who respect all people and who will introduce, support, and pass legislation that is fair for everyone. Representation should protect the most vulnerable among us, not punish them for existing.

And it is long past time to remove the so-called “Freedom Caucus” from power. Their agenda does not represent freedom—it represents exclusion, control, and harm. Our House deserves leaders who believe in democracy, dignity, and equal rights for all.