2026 SC House District 32 Election

*CANDIDATES' VIEWS IN THE Q&AS LINKED BELOW DO NOT REFLECT THE VIEWS OF ONESPARTANBURG, INC. CANDIDATE RESPONSES ARE THE CANDIDATES' OWN WORDS, HAVING COME FROM EMAILED RESPONSES.*

 

REPUBLICAN PARTY CANDIDATE

SCOTT MONTGOMERY

 

DEMOCRATIC PARTY CANDIDATE

IRENE BENSON

Name: Irene Benson

Website: https://www.ireneforsc.com/

The Office You're Seeking: State House District 32

Tell us about yourself, your involvement in our community, and why you are running for the SC House.

I’m Irene Benson, a working mom of three school-aged kids, a nonprofit executive, healthcare advocate, Little League coach, and proud Spartanburg resident. My husband, Jon, is a local small business owner, and we’re raising our kids here—these are their schools, the roads we drive every day, and the community we proudly call home. For more than two decades, I’ve worked in nonprofit leadership, bringing people together to solve problems and expand opportunities for families. The majority of my career has been focused on health advocacy for cancer patients and currently I serve as Chief Development Officer with the nation’s leading non-partisan civic education organization. Here at home, I’ve stayed involved in our community through volunteering at my kids’ school, coaching my kid’s Little League teams, promoting civic engagement, and sitting on several boards of local nonprofits. I’m running for South Carolina House District 32 because I believe our community deserves a representative who shows up for them, listens, and who understands and will focus on the everyday issues affecting families. I want excellent public schools, affordable healthcare and access to doctors, responsible growth that benefits the people who already live here, and safe communities where our kids can thrive. Spartanburg is growing quickly, and the decisions being made in Columbia today will shape what this community looks like for decades. We need a leader who actually shows up in Columbia, who won’t miss the budget vote, and who won’t vote to weaken our community in Washington by voting to split our community in half. I’m running because this is my home too. My kids are growing up here alongside yours, and I want the people of District 32 to have a real voice in building the kind of community we leave them. I can promise you that I’ll make sure Spartanburg comes first. Always.

What is the role of state government, if any, in economic development and corporate recruitment? How can the State help raise per-capita income in Spartanburg and across the state? 

State government has an important role in economic development, but our goal should not simply be recruiting the biggest company or announcing the largest capital investment. The real measure of economic development should be whether it creates good-paying jobs, raises incomes, strengthens our communities and improves the quality of life for the people who live here. South Carolina has been remarkably successful at recruiting businesses. In 2025 alone, the state announced more than $9 billion in new capital investment and more than 8,100 jobs.

We should build on that success while becoming more intentional about the kinds of jobs we recruit, the wages they pay, and the return taxpayers receive when public incentives are involved. But while South Carolina is ranked 6th in the nation for economic performance, we rank 45th for annual wages, 44th for GDP output per capita, and 48th in wage policy. We can do better than that. Raising per-capita income starts with our workforce. Public schools are workforce infrastructure. The workforce we are trying to build for the next 20 years is sitting in South Carolina classrooms right now.

That means strong public schools, career and technical education, apprenticeships, and partnerships with institutions like Spartanburg Community College that connect people directly to high-demand, higher-wage careers. South Carolina already has a strong foundation through programs such as readySC and Apprenticeship Carolina; we should continue strengthening those pathways.

We also need to invest in the infrastructure that makes sustainable growth possible—roads, water and sewer, broadband, energy capacity and housing—and support the small and existing businesses that are already employing South Carolinians, not focus exclusively on recruiting the next large corporation. Finally, when taxpayer-funded incentives are offered, there should be transparency and accountability. Incentives should be tied to measurable public benefits such as jobs, wages and investment, and communities should have a meaningful voice when major projects will affect their infrastructure, utilities and quality of life. Economic development should not simply make South Carolina a cheaper place to do business. It should help make South Carolinians more prosperous and our communities stronger.

Comprehensive Tax Reform remains a high priority in the SC General Assembly.  Income, property, and sales tax are all being discussed for reform.  As a State Representative what would be your approach to good tax policy for the State? 

Good tax policy should be fair, competitive, transparent and fiscally responsible. My starting point would be simple: does a proposed reform make life more affordable for working families, help South Carolina businesses compete, and still provide the resources necessary for strong schools, safe communities and the infrastructure our growing economy depends on? I’m open to comprehensive tax reform, but I would want to look at income, sales and property taxes together rather than simply shifting the burden from one pocket to another.

A reduction in one tax isn't much of a victory for a family if it is offset by higher taxes somewhere else or higher costs for essential public services. I would also take a hard look at exemptions, special-interest tax breaks and corporate incentives. South Carolina should remain a competitive place to do business, but when taxpayers are asked to subsidize private investment, there should be a clear public return—good-paying jobs, meaningful economic investment and accountability for delivering what was promised. Property-tax reform deserves particular care because of its relationship to homeowners, local governments and public schools. Likewise, changes to the sales tax should consider the effect on working families, because consumption taxes can take a larger share of income from households with less ability to absorb the cost. I’m open to continuing to reduce South Carolina’s income tax as revenues and economic growth allow.

But eliminating a tax is only half of a tax plan. We also have to answer what replaces that revenue and what the change means for working families. I would evaluate comprehensive tax reform based on the entire tax burden—income, sales and property taxes together. I would not support simply eliminating the income tax if the result is shifting that burden onto families through substantially higher sales or property taxes, or undermining our ability to fund public schools, infrastructure, public safety and other core responsibilities. Recent reforms demonstrate why the details matter. South Carolina’s 2026 income-tax changes are estimated to lower liability for about 43% of tax returns, leave about 35% unchanged, and increase liability for about 23%. That is why I believe legislators have a responsibility to look beyond the headline tax rate and understand who actually pays more or less under any proposal. Ultimately, I don't think the goal should simply be to make South Carolina a low-tax state. The goal should be to make it a high-value state—one where taxpayers can see what they're getting for their money, families can afford to live and raise children, businesses can grow, and we are making the long-term investments that keep South Carolina competitive.

Childcare across South Carolina is often unaffordable and inaccessible, damaging our state’s economy and outcomes for our children.  Data shows that a lack of childcare options prohibits some people from participating in the workforce. In South Carolina, the state’s prime-age labor force participation rate of 81.1% falls 2.5% points below the national average.  As a state representative, what are some solutions you have for this crisis?

Childcare is personal for me, but it is also an economic-development issue. My children just reached elementary school age, so it wasn’t too long ago that I was once on the waiting list for 17 different childcare centers. Until two spots for my twins became available, my husband and I paid more than $3,000 a month for a nanny so that I could continue working. We were fortunate that we could find a way to absorb that cost. Many families simply cannot. For them, a lack of childcare can mean reducing their hours, turning down a promotion, or leaving the workforce altogether.

If South Carolina wants to increase workforce participation and recruit employers, childcare has to be treated as part of our workforce infrastructure. I would focus on both sides of the equation: making care more affordable for families while increasing the supply of quality childcare. That means strengthening childcare scholarships for working families, expanding incentives for employers—particularly small businesses—to help provide or subsidize childcare, and addressing the childcare workforce shortage so providers can open more classrooms and serve more children. I also support examining refundable childcare tax credits that put assistance directly into the hands of working families.

These aren't theoretical ideas: proposals currently before the General Assembly include expanding employer childcare tax incentives and providing tax credits for childcare workers, as well as making South Carolina's child and dependent care credit refundable. We should also look at public-private partnerships that help employers reserve childcare slots, establish childcare near major employment centers, or partner with existing providers rather than assuming every employer needs to build its own facility. I am proud of the work that our chamber has been doing in this space. Ultimately, parents shouldn't have to choose between going to work and having a safe place for their children. We deserve a representative that understands this personally. If South Carolina is serious about workforce participation and economic growth, childcare isn't a side issue. It's workforce infrastructure—and we should treat it that way.

What are the greatest challenges facing your District and what will you do as the Representative to address them?

The greatest challenge facing House District 32 is making sure Spartanburg’s tremendous growth actually improves the quality of life for the people who already call this community home. Spartanburg County has grown by more than 16% since 2020. Growth brings tremendous opportunity—new businesses, new neighbors and a stronger tax base—but it also puts pressure on the things families rely on every day: our roads, schools, housing, healthcare, utilities and public safety.

As our Representative, I would focus on making sure our infrastructure keeps pace with that growth. That means fighting for state investment in roads and transportation, supporting strong public schools and workforce development, expanding access to affordable healthcare and childcare, and working to keep Spartanburg affordable for the families who live here.

I also believe we need much greater accountability around major economic-development projects. I support bringing good-paying jobs and responsible investment to Spartanburg, but taxpayer incentives should produce a clear public benefit. Projects that place significant demands on our roads, water, power or other infrastructure should be evaluated based on their full impact on the community, and residents deserve transparency and a meaningful voice in those decisions. Finally, growth only works if families can share in the prosperity it creates. We should be preparing our kids for the jobs being created here, helping working parents stay in the workforce, supporting local small businesses and focusing economic-development efforts on jobs that raise incomes—not simply celebrating the size of the next investment announcement. I don't want to stop Spartanburg from growing.

I want us to grow well. As a mom raising three kids here, I think about growth in very practical terms: Will their schools keep up? Will we spend more time sitting in traffic? Will they be able to afford to live here when they're grown? And will the jobs we're recruiting allow families to build a good life here?

Do you believe the state should pass legislation related to AI infrastructure?  If so, what would ideal legislation look like?

Yes. Artificial intelligence will be an important part of our economy, and South Carolina should be positioned to benefit from it. But the physical infrastructure behind AI—particularly large data centers—can create significant demands on electricity, water, land and other public infrastructure. We need rules in place now so communities aren't left dealing with unintended costs later. I support a statewide framework that establishes clear standards while preserving a meaningful role for local communities in land-use decisions.

Before a large data center is approved, there should be transparency about its expected electricity and water consumption, infrastructure needs, environmental impact and effect on surrounding neighborhoods. One of my biggest priorities would be protecting existing utility customers. Families and small businesses should not see their electric bills increase because utilities must build significant new generation or transmission infrastructure to serve a single large industrial customer. Data centers should pay their fair share of the infrastructure required to serve them, with appropriate oversight from the Public Service Commission.

I would also require meaningful water-use and energy reporting, infrastructure and environmental assessments, reasonable standards for noise and buffers near residential communities, and decommissioning plans so taxpayers aren't left responsible for abandoned facilities. Any state tax incentives should be transparent and tied to a demonstrated public benefit, including the number and quality of permanent jobs created. Finally, local communities need a seat at the table. State government should establish strong baseline protections, but it should not use economic-development policy to strip communities of their ability to make reasonable decisions about where these enormous facilities belong. I'm not interested in closing South Carolina's door to AI investment. I want us to open that door with our eyes open. Economic development should benefit the communities that host it, not leave families paying the bill for it.

Please identify any other issues or concerns that influenced your decision to run for this office.

I'm running to expand healthcare access—bringing our federal tax dollars home through Medicaid expansion—and because our district deserves a representative who puts Spartanburg first. When my opponent voted to split our community between congressional districts, it reinforced why this race matters.