Greenville County Councilman Steve Shaw announces run for Loftis' Senate seat

Greenville County Councilman Steve Shaw announced a run for South Carolina Senate Friday.

According to a press statement on his Facebook page, the North Greenville councilman said he's in the running to succeed Sen. Dwight Loftis, who will not be seeking reelection next year.

"The people of District 6 want our state road money used here as opposed to other places in the state," Shaw said in the statement. "Also, we want academics and not indoctrination in our schools. We want lower taxes, smaller government, the full measure of 2nd Amendment rights, and protection of the unborn.”

According to the statement, Loftis is backing Shaw.

“Steve Shaw is a conservative leader who has shown his leadership by standing for our rights and liberties guaranteed by our constitution and opposing government overreach. I appreciate his pro-life position and support of family values,” Loftis said in the press statement.

Shaw, who was elected to county council in 2020, grabbed public attention when he opposed appointing Tiffany Santagati to the Greenville County Library System's Board of Trustees.

Santagati, who is the vice president of the Greenville Housing Fund, is associated with 11 nonprofit organizations across the Upstate. But her work with 864Pride, a LGTBQ+ friendly nonprofit, prompted Shaw to send emails to his constituents stating Santagati was an "outspoken advocate for gay/transgender/LGBTQ+ influence in our community," and opined that she would advocate for children having access to "adult materials" based on her work with 864Pride.

Santagati was ultimately not appointed.

Shaw was also one of four councilmembers who voted against the $785 million county budget for 2025. The passage of the budget helped evade the threat of a government shutdown.

In his professional life, Shaw is also an estate planning attorney and expert in land use planning. He has also served on the Travelers Rest on the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Devyani Chhetri covers SC politics for the Greenville News. You can reach her at dchhetri@gannett.com or @ChhetriDevyani on X.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Greenville County Councilman Steve Shaw announces run for SC Senate