FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 5, 2008

State leaders speak out in support of Ketner candidacy

COLUMBIA, SC - Linda joined party and state leaders in Columbia this weekend to discuss her plan for a new path forward for South Carolina's 1^st district.  In response, leaders from across the state have announced their support for her candidacy, and their belief that she is the best person to bring renewed energy and focus to a weakened economy, an education system that's failing our children, and a war that continues to drain resources from our priorities here at home.

"I support Linda Ketner in the upcoming Democratic Primary for Congress in the First Congressional District. Linda has great intelligence and energy, and has bold ideas to get our economy moving again, provide affordable health care, and protect our beautiful coast."

Jim Hodges, Former South Carolina Governor

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                           

April 16, 2007                                                                                    

CHARLESTON, SC - Federal Election Commission reports show today that Linda Ketner, in her bid to replace incumbent Congressman Henry Brown, filed three times the amount of contributions in her campaign's April quarterly report. This is Ketner's first filing with the FEC after officially becoming a candidate.                                     

                                       Total Receipts                    Total Receipts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

APRIL 15, 2008

CHARLESTON, SC -- Linda Ketner announced today that thanks to the support of nearly 600 individuals, her campaign will report raising over $413,000 in its first filing statement with the FEC. "I am humbled by the outpouring of support from people in every corner of the first congressional district." said Ketner.

Ketner's campaign manager, Jamie Fontaine, pointed to the fact that the campaign has nearly outraised any previous challenger in this district. "Henry Brown has never been challenged. In this campaign's first filing period, we have nearly out raised all of Brown's previous challengers during the full course of their campaigns. With close to 600 people investing in Linda Ketner's call for a new path forward, there's no doubt we'll have the resources necessary to give voters a real choice in November."

Some additional facts:

By Will Moredock

Democracy is never easy, but it is rarely more complicated than in South Carolina. Who is a resident and who has the right to vote? Who may challenge and for what reason?

These are troubling questions in this state where entire races and classes of people were barred by law from voting until only a few decades ago. Voting is still seen as exotic and mysterious in some circles. There are black families in this city in which no one has ever voted for their leaders. Likewise, many whites have never figured out how the system works and why it works to keep them poor and dispossessed.

Thuggery and chicanery are a fact of political life here; government reflects the worst traits of populism and elitism. In this house of mirrors called South Carolina, Republicans can run a voter registration drive outside a Wal-Mart, and that old segregationist, Strom Thurmond, could hold office for generations while hiding a biracial daughter.

by brownsox

Sun Apr 20, 2008 at 04:24:50 PM PDT

One of the best indicators that this is shaping up to be a special election year for Democrats is the high number of relatively credible candidates running around the country...including in some districts we've abandoned for years, districts with entrenched Republican incumbents or districts which vote preposterously Republican at the federal level.

It seems as if everyone who has kicked around the idea of running for Congress has decided this is the year, that getting in now is their best chance at winning election for the foreseeable future.

Districts which most people never dreamed would be competitive this fall have drawn surprisingly credible Democratic candidates. Some of these, like Debbie Cook or Donald Betts, happen to be unusually high-profile. Others have shown shocking fundraising prowess, like Linda Ketner or Michael Skelly.

Robert Behre
April 4, 2008 

Linda Ketner announces her candidacy for the 1st Congressional District seat as Charleston Mayor Joe Riley looks on Thursday.

Speaking to more than 150 supporters jostling for space under a rental tent in Charleston's Cannon Park, Charleston businesswoman and philanthropist Linda Ketner kicked off her Democratic bid for the 1st Congressional District seat.

"What we need to do together is to forge a new path forward," she said, noting the rising cost of gassing up, rising health care costs, the current wave of foreclosures, lost jobs and an education system in need of improvement. "I want you to elect me to lead that new path forward."

Saying that "you need to be more than strong to be great," she said she would urge more collaboration and diplomacy on foreign policy. "Homeland security means more than kicking off your shoes and throwing away your shampoo."

CHARLESTON, SC. Linda Ketner today announced her candidacy for congress in South Carolina’s first congressional district. Nearly 200 supporters gathered in the rain to hear Ketner’s remarks. Ketner said: “We’ve been on the same old path, with the same old people, and forgotten that our strength as South Carolinians and as Americans is in our unity and not in the things that divide us,” Charleston Mayor Joe Riley was among the supporters. He told the crowd: “ Linda is the reason South Carolina has a Housing Trust Fund. When I first met Linda, I knew she would work to change our community, but I had no idea she would be a human dynamo. It is her compassion, her intellect and her spirit that drives her to fix problems. She is an exceptional person, she is an exceptional leader, and she will be an exceptional Member of the United States Congress.

By Jason Lesley
jlesley@gtowntimes.com

Linda Ketner, a Democrat from Charleston, announced Thursday that she will challenge incumbent Henry Brown Jr. (R-Hanahan) for U.S. Congress, representing the First District.

Ketner toured the three counties comprising the First District -- Georgetown, Horry and Charleston -- and made stops in each to announce her candidacy.

She stopped at Louis's in Pawleys Island to have lunch with supporters.

"She reaches out ot everybody in the community," said Jamie Sanderson, chairman of the Georgetown County Democratic Party. "Linda represents the vast majority of people and will have a very good chance against Rep. Brown."

Ketner is the daughter of Ruth Hope, who lives in DeBordieu Colony, and Ralph Ketner of Salisbury, N.C., a co-founder of the Food Lion grocery chain.

By Bo Petersen

Activists Linda Ketner and Clay Middleton have announced candidacies for U.S. Congress and State House seats, respectively.

Meanwhile, incumbent Bobby Harrell, speaker of the S.C. House, has filed for re-election and first-term S.C. Rep. Leon Stavrinakis has announced his re-election bid.

Ketner, whose candidacy for U.S. Rep. Henry Brown's 1st District seat had been expected, is running as a Democrat against the fourth-term Republican with a $1 million campaign fund who touts a record of constituent services.

She is a 57-year-old management consultant who formed South Carolina Citizens for Housing and is involved in a number of community organizations. The daughter of Food Lion co-founder Ralph Ketner, she is a longtime philanthropist in the Charleston community. She lives in Charleston.

By Tom O'Dare
The Herald

Grand Strand-Linda Ketner says current 1st District Congressman Henry Brown has not been an effective leader for South Carolina on Capitol Hill.
For that reason, she has decided to run for the Congressional seat as a Democrat against Brown.
Ketner told a large group of Democrats in Myrtle Beach Friday morning that it's time that Congress looks after the people again instead of special interests.
The daughter of Food Lion co-founder Ralph Ketner, she is a business consultant from Charleston.
Over the years, Ketner has been a champion of providing equal housing to all, having served on or founded several boards and commissions on housing.
Even though he has been the sub-committee chairman on veterans' health care, Ketner says Brown's record on actually helping the nation's veterans has been shameful.