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CLEMSON, SC · UPSTATE EDITION · WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2026
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Clemson SC Politics & Government

Clemson SC Politics & Civic News — Page 8

Covering Clemson City Council, Pickens County Council, South Carolina General Assembly, and your federal representatives in Washington, D.C. Accountability journalism for Pickens County residents.

City Council County Council SC Senate SC House US Congress Elections Civic Issues
POLITICS NOW
POLITICSSpartanburg Council Approves $18.2M Morgan Square Overhaul ◆ POLITICSWhat Losing the House Supermajority Means for SC Republicans ◆ POLITICSDorothy Dowe Launches Bid for Mayor in Greenville ◆ POLITICSSmith, Burgett and McGuire Win Council Seats in Clemson ◆ POLITICSGreenville Council Votes to Buy Cultural Exchange Center Site ◆ POLITICSGreer Sets Workshop and Forum Before Vote on Flock Cameras ◆ POLITICSSC Early Voting Passes 280,000 After Three Days ◆ POLITICSDeputies Probe Assault Report From Trump’s Upstate Rally ◆ POLITICSJets Intercept Plane, Hecklers Removed at Trump Rally for Graham ◆ POLITICSSC Early Voting Opens With Nearly 98,000 First-Day Ballots ◆ POLITICSTrump Rallies for Graham as SC Senate Race Moves to Lean GOP ◆ POLITICSClemson Chamber Hosts Local Candidate Forum Wednesday Evening ◆

Pickens County sits inside one of the most layered governmental structures in the region. Residents answer to at least five levels of elected authority simultaneously: the federal government, statewide offices, Pickens County Council, Clemson City Council, and school district boards — each a separately elected body covering its own geographic slice of the county.

Pickens’s federal delegation includes US Rep. Sheri Biggs (SC District 3) and Senators Darline Graham and Tim Scott. In Columbia, Clemson is represented by Sen. Thomas C. Alexander (District 1) and Rep. Phillip Bowers (District 3).

Pickens County Council controls property tax millage, land-use zoning outside city limits, and fee-in-lieu-of-tax agreements. Downtown zoning decisions and the Clemson Police Department budget run through Clemson City Council. State funding for schools, roads, and Medicaid flows from the South Carolina General Assembly. The Pickens County Elections and Voter Registration Office administers local balloting under SC Election Commission oversight.

HERE Clemson covers Pickens County Council meetings, Clemson City Council sessions, South Carolina General Assembly session, federal delegation votes and town halls, school board meetings, and candidate filing windows. We also pull FOIA-sourced travel records and contracts at both the city and county level. If it shapes how Pickens County is governed, it’s HERE.

Who is the mayor of Clemson? Who is your state representative? See every elected official who represents Clemson — mayor, council, county, sheriff, state legislators and Congress — with official contacts on the Clemson elected officials & contacts page →
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Nov 11 Spartanburg Council Approves $18.2M Morgan Square Overhaul
Nov 11 What Losing the House Supermajority Means for SC Republicans
Nov 10 Dorothy Dowe Launches Bid for Mayor in Greenville
Nov 5 Smith, Burgett and McGuire Win Council Seats in Clemson
Oct 29 Greer Sets Workshop and Forum Before Vote on Flock Cameras
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POLITICS 255 responses

What do you think: Spartanburg Council Approves $18.2M Morgan Square Overhaul?

Strongly support — this is overdue 35%
Cautious support — depends on the details 26%
Skeptical — need to see the cost first 19%
Oppose — not the right direction for Clemson 20%
Based on our coverage · November 11, 2026
POLITICS 472 responses

What do you think: What Losing the House Supermajority Means for SC Republicans?

Strongly support — this is overdue 37%
Cautious support — depends on the details 30%
Skeptical — need to see the cost first 15%
Oppose — not the right direction for Clemson 18%
Based on our coverage · November 11, 2026
Political Coverage

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Spartanburg Council Approves $18.2M Morgan Square Overhaul
Nov 11, 2026
Spartanburg Council Approves $18.2M Morgan Square Overhaul
SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Downtown Spartanburg is getting a bigger, greener Morgan Square. City Council signed off Monday, Nov. 9, on an $18.2 million redesign, and crews are expected to start work in early 2027. Council members voted unanimously on second and final reading. They had also been unanimous on first reading Oct. 26. Bonds backed
What Losing the House Supermajority Means for SC Republicans
Nov 11, 2026
What Losing the House Supermajority Means for SC Republicans
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Republicans will still run the South Carolina House when the General Assembly returns in January, but they will no longer have the two-thirds supermajority they built over the last two election cycles. Democrats picked up 10 House seats in last week's election Election Commission's unofficial count. One of those races is headed
Dorothy Dowe Launches Bid for Mayor in Greenville
Nov 10, 2026
Dorothy Dowe Launches Bid for Mayor in Greenville
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Dorothy Dowe, who holds one of the two at-large seats on Greenville City Council, opened a campaign for mayor on Monday, Nov. 9, with an event at the Rupert Huse Veteran Center. The race will pick the first new mayor the city has had since 1995. Mayor Knox White has said he
Greenville Council Votes to Buy Cultural Exchange Center Site
Nov 11, 2026 · SC Statewide · HERE Greenville
Greenville Council Votes to Buy Cultural Exchange Center Site
Via HERE Greenville: GREENVILLE, S.C. — Greenville City Council voted unanimously Monday, Nov. 9, to buy the building that once housed the Greenville Cultural Exchange Center, the former museum on Arlington Avenue that told the story of Black life in the Upstate. Greenville is set to spend $850,000 on the building, which sits at 700 Arlington Ave. Most […]
Smith, Burgett and McGuire Win Council Seats in Clemson
Nov 5, 2026
Smith, Burgett and McGuire Win Council Seats in Clemson
CLEMSON, S.C. — Clemson voters filled three at-large City Council seats Tuesday, keeping one sitting member and sending a university professor and a former councilman to join her. Five candidates were on the nonpartisan ballot for the at-large seats on Nov. 3: Scott Allison, Joe Burgett, Nanda Edgerton, Fran McGuire and Alesia Smith. Smith, already
Greer Sets Workshop and Forum Before Vote on Flock Cameras
Oct 29, 2026
Greer Sets Workshop and Forum Before Vote on Flock Cameras
GREER, S.C. — Greer residents will get two chances in November to hear about, and speak up on, the license…
SC Early Voting Passes 280,000 After Three Days
Oct 23, 2026
SC Early Voting Passes 280,000 After Three Days
COLUMBIA, S.C. — More than 280,000 South Carolinians have already voted, the state's newest turnout figures show after three days…
Deputies Probe Assault Report From Trump’s Upstate Rally
Oct 23, 2026
Deputies Probe Assault Report From Trump’s Upstate Rally
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Anderson County deputies are investigating an assault complaint from President Donald Trump's campaign rally near Clemson this…
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Elected Officials

Your Clemson Reps

Every official with a vote on Clemson's future — pulled live from our roster.

SC State Senate — Pickens County
State Senate
Thomas C. Alexander
State Senator
District 1
R
SC House of Representatives — Pickens County
State House
Phillip Bowers
State Representative
District 3
R
US Congress — SC
US House
Sheri Biggs
US Representative
SC District 3
R
US Senate
US Senate
Darline Graham
US Senator
South Carolina
R
US Senate
Tim Scott
US Senator
South Carolina
R
Politics of Data

Data Center Clemson

DATA CENTER: NEWS, INFORMATION & RESOURCE CENTER FOR CLEMSON

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No local data-center vote or application is on file in HERE Clemson's reporting yet. If a proposal arrives, these are the people and agencies that would decide it, and this section will track it every week.

A data center in or near Clemson would first need local land-use approval through City of Clemson, and Pickens County weighs in on land outside city limits and on tax incentives. The Public Service Commission of South Carolina is the state utility regulator; it reviews rates and large-customer power contracts for the utilities it oversees. Air and water permits come from the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services.

National context: Federal energy researchers estimate data centers used about 4.4% of all U.S. electricity in 2023 and could use 6.7% to 12% by 2028, which is why utility commissions, local boards, and voters are now central to where these campuses land. U.S. Department of Energy report

What’s on file near Clemson

  • Nothing on file yetNo local data-center vote, rezoning, or application is on file in HERE Clemson's reporting yet. When one is filed, it will appear here first.

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Updated weekly. Last updated Nov 6, 2026.

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Who Represents Clemson: Elected Officials & Contacts→ Data Center Resource Center for Clemson→ South Carolina General Assembly → Find Your US Rep → Rep. Sheri Biggs · SC District 3 → Sen. Darline Graham · US → Sen. Tim Scott · US →
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Clemson is in Pickens County, South Carolina. Mayor, City of Clemson: Robert Halfacre; County Administrator, Pickens County: Kenneth Roper; County Council Chairman, Pickens County: Alex Saitta.

Latest Clemson Politics News — Page 8

  1. In-Person Advance Balloting Begins Oct. 19 Across SC

    COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina residents may cast ballots in person starting Monday, Oct. 19, opening a two-week stretch that closes Saturday, Oct. 31, at 6 p.m. before…

  2. Trump’s Oct. 21 Upstate Rally Set for Clemson, Not Greenville

    CLEMSON, S.C. — President Donald Trump's Oct. 21 midterm rally in the Upstate will be held in Clemson, not Greenville, after the Greenville County Republican Party said it…

  3. FBI Moves Toward Sole-Source UFC Contract for Agent Combat

    QUANTICO, Va. — Federal contracting papers show the FBI lining up a yearlong, no-bid deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship to put special agents through mixed-martial-arts defensive tactics…

  4. Privacy Groups Challenge DHS Nationwide Voter Record Sweep

    WASHINGTON — Civic plaintiffs opened a federal case here Thursday against Homeland Security, saying the department quietly assembled a vast store of Americans registration files from nearly every…

  5. Trump Faults Kyiv Over Fresh Hits on Russian Fuel Plants

    WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump blasted Kyiv for restarting attacks on Russian oil and diesel plants, saying the raids lift world fuel prices after an energy pause he…

  6. Alaska Senate Rivals Trade Personal Blows in Final Debate

    ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democratic former Rep. Mary Peltola spent Thursday night hammering each other on character and policy in the closing Debate for…

  7. Press Secretary Zacharia Says She Did Not Pass California

    WASHINGTON — A senior administration official said Katie Zacharia, now the White House briefing-room lead, sat for California bar testing after Pepperdine Law and did not pass, intensifying…

  8. Democratic Senate Candidates Post Huge Third-Quarter Hauls

    WASHINGTON — Fresh midterm finance filings show Democratic Senate hopefuls flooding accounts in the July-September window, with Texas Democrat James Talarico reporting a $64 million quarter. His team…

  9. Governor Candidate Alan Wilson Rolls Out Affordability Plan

    COLUMBIA, S.C. — Attorney General Alan Wilson, the Republican nominee for governor, rolled out a cost-of-living platform on Thursday that centers on taxes, fuel, insurance and power bills.…

  10. Trump Sets Oct. 21 Midterm Rally in Clemson

    CLEMSON, S.C. — President Donald Trump is coming to Clemson next Wednesday, Oct. 21, for a midterm election rally, the Republican National Committee announced Thursday. No venue has…

  11. Greenville City Elections Go Nonpartisan Starting in 2027

    GREENVILLE, S.C. — Greenville city elections will be nonpartisan starting in 2027 after City Council voted 5-1 on Oct. 12 to give final approval to an ordinance changing…

  12. Trump Says Massive Oil and Mineral Push Ready in Greenland

    WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that large-scale oil, gas and mineral exploration is about to start in Greenland, linking the Arctic island to U.S. energy and…