In 2020, at only 19 years old, Courtney McClain walked into a city council meeting with a petition she’d taught herself to write, ready to speak up about an issue affecting her local community. New to civic advocacy, she was about to experience firsthand what it meant to challenge those in power. But as McClain began presenting her petition, the sheriff she was petitioning against stood up and walked out of the room. For a first-time advocate, that moment could have discouraged her from stepping anywhere near politics again; instead, it helped shape the political philosophy McClain carries with her today.
“Since then, I’ve known the importance of not only being the youngest voice in the room, but still being one of the most powerful voices as well,” McClain, now 25 years old, tells Her Campus. That experience jump-started a journey that took her from grassroots advocacy in Spartanburg, South Carolina, to working with legislators at the statehouse. Now, McClain is ready for something bigger as she runs to represent South Carolina’s 4th District in the U.S. House of Representatives, hoping to bring her experience working with state legislators, drafting policy, and receiving training from elected officials, along with a Gen Z perspective she hopes to bring to Congress.
“With Gen Z, we don’t wait our turn,” McClain says. “We see a problem, and instead of saying, ‘Oh well we have to go through this person and this person,’… we just start going.” For McClain, that sense of urgency is key to how her generation approaches change. “You don’t have time to sit around and formulate and think for weeks about a single topic, because we need to address what is happening right now,” she says. “And I think Gen Z understands the urgency of now, and we actually act on that urgency.”
McClain’s campaign centers on what she calls an “Upstate-first agenda,” which prioritizes some of the main issues affecting the residents of Greenville, Spartanburg, and Anderson, including affordable housing, health care access, and the rising cost of living. For McClain, these issues are personal: She wants young South Carolinians to have the opportunity to build their lives in the same community that shaped her own. “I am one of those young people who want to build a family here, want to continue my family legacy here,” she says.
Family legacy is an important part of McClain’s candidacy, as her family has lived in the Upstate for approximately 200 years, with relatives serving their communities as educators, religious leaders, and health care providers. In 2024, during a family reunion, her relatives traced their lineage back to where an ancestor documented a record of enslavement. “Just seeing how we’ve gone — from being in slave records to now having a member of our family running for Congress — I think that is a story that really shows the resilience of my family here in the state,” McClain says. That history has helped form her understanding of leadership and her commitment to the Upstate. “Even though times get hard, you don’t run from them. You can stay here; you can fight for something better.”
McClain knows running a progressive campaign in a largely conservative state is tough, but not impossible. “So many people think that South Carolina is just a red state,” she says. “But I think they forget that our neighbors, Georgia and North Carolina, both used to be red states as well.” She hopes that progressive voters and political organizers will recognize the state’s potential and invest in its future. “I would just tell people to take a chance on us.”
For young voters who feel disconnected from politics or doubt that their voices matter, McClain’s journey offers a reminder that change can begin with a single decision to get involved. “I decided that I was going to get involved instead of letting people decide my future for me,” she says. McClain encourages students to start small, whether by organizing in their communities, contacting local elected officials, or just showing up at the ballot box. “The possibilities are endless if you actually just take that first step into getting involved, creating the change you want to see.”
The following responses have been edited for length and clarity.
What is your comfort movie?
Interstellar.
What is one book everyone should read?
The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells.
What is one thing you could never live without?
My dog and cat.
What is your favorite holiday?
My birthday.
What is your favorite thing about South Carolina?
The people and the food.
What is one thing you always miss when away from home?
The quiet.
Who has had the biggest influence on your leadership style?
My parents.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
To never give up.