FLORENCE, S.C. — U.S. Senate candidate Brandon Brown officially launched a new statewide action group, Local Leaders for Brandon Brown, during a press conference Wednesday morning at Cumberland United Methodist Church in Florence. The event brought together local elected officials, pastors, and community leaders from across South Carolina, underscoring the campaign’s growing grassroots momentum and bottom-up strategy to unseat Senator Lindsey Graham.
More than 100 local elected leaders representing 41 of South Carolina’s 46 counties have joined the effort, forming a coalition of mayors, city council members, county officials, and school board members committed to organizing in their communities as if their own names were on the ballot.
“Change never starts from the top down,” Brown said. “It has always come from the bottom up—and that’s how we’re going to win this race and unseat Lindsey Graham.”
Brown announced that Mayor Miko Pickett of Mullins and Mayor Chardale Murray will serve as co-chairs of the new action group. Combined, the coalition represents more than 180,000 Democratic voters statewide, signaling a powerful organizing force anchored in local leadership.
In a forceful address, Mayor Pickett emphasized why local leaders are stepping forward.
“Local leaders don’t get to live in slogans. We live in real life,” Pickett said. “We’re the first call when roads flood, when schools need resources, when a factory closes. South Carolina deserves better than business and politics as usual—and that’s why I’m supporting Brandon Brown.”
Pickett also made clear that the path to victory will not come from Washington insiders.
“Challenging Lindsey Graham won’t come from a backroom,” she said. “It will come from Main Street and rural dirt roads—because we are building something that can’t be bought: a people-powered movement led by communities that have been overlooked the longest.”
Brown told supporters that the launch of Local Leaders for Brandon Brown represents the campaign’s roadmap for the future.
“Today represents a united front of local leaders coming together to demand progress for their communities—not with words, but with action,” Brown said. “They have committed to working for this movement as though their names are on the ballot.”
Brown, a Greenville native and higher-education leader who has served as a vice president at three HBCUs, said his campaign is centered on the realities facing working families, small towns, and rural communities.
“I entered this race because people are hurting. Because people are dying. Because small towns and rural communities are being left behind,” Brown said. “I didn’t expect anyone to feel obligated to stand with me—I wanted to earn it. And I am deeply honored by the trust these local leaders have placed in this campaign.”
The event concluded with a call to action for South Carolinians who feel ignored or left behind.
“If you’ve ever felt counted out or told to wait your turn,” Mayor Pickett said, “this is your moment. This is our moment.”
For more information about the campaign or to join Local Leaders for Brandon Brown, visit www.BrandonPBrown.com.