Courtney McClain

McClain was born in South Carolina and graduated from Spartanburg High School; The Post and Courier describes her as a Spartanburg native. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of South Carolina, Columbia (2023) and a graduate degree from Howard University (2025).[1][2] According to her Ballotpedia survey, she has received training from the Clyburn Fellow Program, the Emerge South Carolina Candidate Program and the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social Change, and worked in Washington, D.C., with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and Congressional Black Caucus Institute as an intern and fellow. SC Daily Gazette reported that she interned for former U.S. Rep. Cori Bush through the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.[1][11]

She became a political organizer at 19 and served as president of the South Carolina NAACP Youth and College Division, according to The Post and Courier. By age 21 she had testified at the Statehouse on gun violence, education, criminal justice reform, voting rights and women's reproductive rights, according to the same paper; her Ballotpedia survey describes speaking before both the state House and Senate on these topics. She is affiliated with the NAACP and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.[2][1][11]

McClain launched her congressional campaign on March 18, 2026, challenging Republican Rep. William Timmons, and advanced from a canceled Democratic primary. She turned 25 in December 2025, the minimum age for a member of Congress. The Post and Courier reports she has spoken at meetings and to county council members about a proposed data center in Spartanburg.[1][2][11] According to her Ballotpedia survey, she was the youngest and first Black woman to run for the 4th District seat; The Post and Courier said she would have been the first Black woman elected to Congress from South Carolina had she won.[1][2] The Post and Courier reported that her campaign centered on affordability, including health care, housing, public schools, infrastructure and voting rights.[1][2] She received 45.7% of the vote to William Timmons's 51.7%, according to unofficial results reported by NBC News.[3]