Carlisle Kennedy was born and raised in Lexington County, S.C. and he says it’s time for a “conservative change” in the county’s representation in the South Carolina Senate.

   Kennedy says he grew up like the typical kid in Lexington County – hunting, fishing, working in the chicken coops and playing sports at Batesburg-Leesville High School.

   He graduated from Clemson University, where he was elected student body president and earned two degrees – a bachelor’s degree in corporate finance and a master’s degree in business administration.

   After starting his own tech company after college, Kennedy got his juris doctor from the University of South Carolina Law School in 2019.

   Kennedy passed the bar exam and began working as an assistant solicitor for Rick Hubbard in the 11th Judicial Circuit, prosecuting crimes in Lexington, Saluda, Edgefield and McCormick counties.

   Today, Kennedy works alongside his father, Ralph Kennedy, at Kennedy Law Firm in Batesburg-Leesville.

A Lexington County local, Kennedy told the Chronicle he has become concerned over the last few years, noting an “erosion of our constitutional rights” at the State House.

   “I’m concerned with the direction our state is heading in,” he said. “Over the last four years, we have seen a lot of government overreach and poor policy decisions that have been created by these entrenched politicians.”

   Kennedy said he does not support Sen. Katrina Shealy’s vote against the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act in May 2023.

   The Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act prohibits abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected around six weeks, with exceptions for rape or incest during the first twelve weeks of pregnancy, medical emergencies or fatal fetal anomalies.

   The bill was signed into law by Gov. Henry McMaster and upheld by the South Carolina Supreme Court.

   “I’m a Christian, I’m pro-life,” Kennedy said. “So, we have a difference of opinion there.”

Shealy was censured by the Lexington County Republican Party over her vote on the abortion bill and was given the John F. Kennedy Profiles in Courage Award for her efforts to defeat the bill and went to Boston, Mass. to receive it.

   “The recent Republicans who have gotten that award are Mitt Romney and Liz Cheney,” Kennedy said. “That’s the company she chooses to be in. She went up to Boston to party and celebrate that.”

   This award, according to the JFK Library website, is given to public figures who act upon their conscience and even risk their career in the interest of the public. 

   “If Carlisle Kennedy would have been offered that award, he would have gone up to Boston to accept it,” Shealy told the Chronicle. “It’s an incredible honor.”

   Kennedy calls himself a Conservative Republican and views his background in business and law as beneficial once he gets to the State House.

   “I’ll be able to hit the ground running once I get [to Columbia] and help the people of Lexington County,” he said.

   Kennedy and his wife, Brooke, have been married since 2018 and are expecting their first child in September. Kennedy feels having his own child makes the implications for the future of Lexington County and the state of South Carolina even higher.

   “I grew up in this community. I love this community,” Kennedy said. “Now I am raising my own family in Lexington County, so I am running to safeguard the freedoms and rights that we cherish for all our families.”