Anderson County Democratic Chair resigns, cites party's primary plans, Biden's Gaza policy

Anderson County Democratic Party Chair Chris Salley resigned from the party Monday over disagreements with Democrats at the state and national level.

The 30-year-old told the Greenville News he had become disillusioned with the party's response to the current strife in Israel and Palestine and felt the current First in the Nation primary process was not inclusive of voices in his community.

"It was just something that built up," Salley told the Greenville News, adding that he would continue supporting the members of the Democratic Party as an Independent progressive and his work with the Anderson County Congress of Christian Education to build up Black voices in Anderson.

In his resignation letter, Salley said the role required extensive planning and coordination, much of which did not align with his personal goals and well-being.

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Salley told the Greenville News his disenchantment with the Democratic Party began during the primary process when Biden emerged as the lead candidate for the party in the next election cycle. He felt the party was not evolving. However, he was committed to the party cause and was going to support Biden.

When South Carolina was chosen as the First in the Nation primary state, Salley said it was a good opportunity for the state party to reinvigorate its local grassroots base. But as time went on and Republican presidential candidates began showing up to parts of the Upstate, Salley felt the Democratic National Convention had left the state party under-resourced.

One such issue came up recently when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visited Anderson to campaign for his candidacy. Salley said he did not agree with the state party's plans to counter DeSantis' presence.

"People in my community want to see that we are standing up for them," he said.

The former investment banker, who moved back to his hometown from New York, said he mostly disagreed with the nature of the political system than individuals within the party.

"I think (the S.C. Democratic Party) make do with what they have and what they have are talking points. They don't have the the bandwidth to listen to all county parties," said Salley, a non-profit fundraising consultant.

Despite his criticism of the state primary process, the show of unconditional support for Israel from the Biden administration was the final tipping point for Salley. He said the administration's reluctance to call for a ceasefire was leading to more civilian causalities and was representative of a trend where the larger party was not listening to its younger voter base.

A recent USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll showed bipartisan support for military aid for Israel and Ukraine. But the poll also revealed a growing generational divide, where voters under the age of 35 were divided. About 46% supported more aid to Israel and about 45% opposed it.

"I condemn violence on both sides and I would hope that our national leaders, especially those who have been in politics longer than I've been alive, can acknowledge that violence just begets more violence," he continued. "We're seeing innocent women and children get killed daily, and my tax dollars are going to pay that one. Yeah, so I think that hit a sore spot for me."

Anderson County Democratic Party did not immediately respond and the South Carolina Democratic Party declined to comment.

Devyani Chhetri reports on SC politics for the Greenville News. Reach her via email at dchhetri@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Anderson Democratic chair resigns over state, national issues with party