YCDP-TV

Let’s get to know Rustin Terry

Rustin is running for the South Carolina House from District 48, the Lake Wiley area of York County. Rustin has no Primary competition, so he and incumbent Republican Brandon Guffey head straight to the General Election in November.

Rustin joins YCDP TV host Gary Pearce for this in-depth conversation. He has a web page in the works, but meanwhile reach him at this Facebook page.

Andrew Clough is running for Congress in the South Carolina 5th District in the 2026 Democratic Primary. His Primary opponent is Mallory Dittmer. The winner of that Primary will face Republican Wes Climer and Worker Party candidate Andy Kaplan in the November 3 General Election to take the seat being vacated by Ralph Norman, who is running for Governor.

YCDP TV is inviting Democratic Candidates from across the election to come chat with host Gary Pearce, and this is our leadoff interview. All the interviews will be collected in this YouTube Playlist.

Check out all of our...

The third nationwide NO KINGS protest brought out York County progressives for two events on March 28.

In the morning it was between Fort Mill and Tega Cay at Hwy 160 and 460. In the afternoon the familiar spot along Dave Lyle Blvd in Rock Hill.

Here's a quick review, and a message from two candidates: Mallory Dittmer (running for US House from SC 5) and Pete Martinez (running for SC House District 47).

The 2026 York County Democratic Party Convention is history, and it was awesome. And YCDP Chair Nikita Jackson was keeping a secret 🤫. Before the convention, we had just a handful of Democratic candidates for the various offices affecting York County. After… every State House office has a Democratic Candidate.

The Convention featured speakers for most Statewide races and almost all local races. It’s a long list, so check the YouTube videos DESCRIPTION area for a time-code index to each element of the event.

Our Keynote Speaker was JA Moore, Representative from SC House District 15, and he brou...

This episode contains some explicit language 💣

In a week when Trump invaded Venezuela and ICE killed an activist, York County turned out on Dave Lyle blvd in Rock Hill to join the nation for another protest.

Meet some of your neighbors, and Congressional Candidate Mallory Dittmer, running for the seat vacated by Ralph Norman.

York County turned out in force for the second nationwide No Kings protest, sponsored by YCDP, York County Rising, Indivisible, 50501 and many others across the country (and around the world). We got this video after producer Gary Pearce rushed from his flight from London down to Rock Hill on Saturday, October 18. Earlier, another York County protest happened betweet Fort Mill and Tega Cay.

You’ve proably heard Republican leadership call this the “Hate America” rally. Just shows how out of touch they are. Actually, they probably don’t believe it… they just feel they have to trash anything w...

The YCDP TV Media Empire was actually on a mini-vacation up in the North Carolina mountains as we edited Part One of this story, so kind of a rush job and we left a few things out. So here in Part Two, we stuff them back in. That includes a little more history, a little more analysis, and some media stories from WRHI Radio, WSOC TV9, and the Rock Hill Herald newspaper.

LListening to their lawyer, the York County Library Board wasn’t ready to institute a new policy of moving books written for children about LGBTQ+ issues, or just including LGBTQ+ characters, from the Children’s section to the Adult section at it’s August meeting. Instead, they will have “continuing discssions” about the matter until… who knows?

The meeting was held at noon on August 14 at the main branch of the Library in Rock Hill. Attendance was limited to 60, with public comments from six speakers, limited to two minutes each. At its July meeting, the Board dropped the requirem...

Meet some more of the activists who occupy a block of Dave Lyle Blvd in Rock Hill ever other Saturday! 2-4 PM. And/or drop by the Indivisible folks at 10 AM Mondays as they protest and drop some mail on Ralph Norman's doorstep. 516 Oakland Ave, Rock Hill, SC.

Also, the YCDP Executive Committee has it's quarterly meeting on Saturday, August 16 at 10 AM, either on Zoom or — for the first time in a few years — in person. Same place we had the YCDP Convention earlier this year. Check your email, the Facebook Group, or the Newsletter for details. All...

The YCDP TV Media Empire crew was handling family stuff on Saturday while the nationwide Rage Against the Regime coincided with York County Rising's bi-weekly Dave Lyle protest. Fortunately, reporters and crews from WCNC and WBTV both covered the event. And we stole their reports.

If you can't make it every time, come when you can. And at the end of this video is a short PSA on something else you can do: send postcards.

York County Council Republicans have been playing a long game with the county library system. They didn’t have much choice, but a culture war battle that started in 2022 is finally about to be completed.

In 2022, Councilman Tom Audette started making noise about a list of children’s books in the library that addressed LGBTQ topics. He didn’t invent the issue—it had been a hot potato in right-wing circles for a while in other areas of the state and nation. Back then, behind the scenes, he was reported to be floating the idea of banning some of...

TIMECODE INDEX to the YouTube Video BELOW ⌚

It was another YCDP Weekend, with the Forward Together party on Friday (June 27) and another every-other-Saturday protest along Dave Lyle in Rock Hill on Saturday.

We lead off with Rock Hill, and some longer interviews with some of the activists, Savanna, Will and Anna.

Then backwards in time (a few hours) to the YCDP Forward Together event, where we hear from three candidates who were present. US Senate Candidate Dr. Annie Andrews leads off, then two candidates (of four announced so far) competing for the Democratic no...

NOTE: this is the audio track from our YouTube video. There are lots of interviews and voices, but there are some visual elements that aren’t described. Not much, but drop by YouTube if you miss it.

Rock Hill, York and Lancaster Counties turned out in force for the June 14 Nationwide No Kings Protest. Crowd estimates approached 2000, by far the largest turnout for the every-other-Saturday event along Dave Lyle Blvd, sponsored by York County Rising, along with several other progressive groups.

Of course the YCDP-TV media empire mobile production unit (a camera and wireless mic) we...

Saturday, May 31, 2025, was a busy day for the YCDP TV Media Empire. In the morning, our Columbia bureau (Gary) covered the South Carolina Democratic Party annual Convention. We're not showing you the whole thing*, but we are including all of the (short) speeches by candidates you'll see on your York County Primary ballot in June, 2026: Senate (4), Governor (1), Superintendent of Education (1) and US House from SC 5 (1). (The Primary is a year away, so we may well see more candidates for any of those offices.)

We also meet a couple of popular South Carolina Public Radio journalists.

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Lee Johnson visited the YCDP Dessert Before Dinner event on May 2, and corralled our YCDP TV camera crew to make a pre-announcement of his intent to run for the Democratic Nomination for US Senate from South Carolina.

That seat is currently held by Republican Lindsey Graham, who you can find on Fox News more easily than you can find him anywhere in the state he is supposed to represent.

This election happens in 2026. The Primary will be in June, and the Election is in November, as usual. Several other candidates from various parties have already...

Your YCDP TV Media Empire Mobile Production Unit (Gary and his video camera) showed up at three events surrounding May Day this year.

On Wednesday, April 30, the Lancaster County Democratic Party held an Empty Chair Town Hall at the Indianland High School auditorium. A couple dozen people addeessed a cardboard cutout of the otherwise absent Ralph Norman, who represents pretty much only the hard-right Republicans in the South Caroina 5th Congressional District. We're presenting just a few seconds of most of the speakers, but you'll get a good idea of the tone of the event.

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YCDP Chair Nikita Jackson joins Gary to talk about the YCDP fundraiser Dessert Before Dinner starting at 5 pm Friday afternoon, May 2, at our HQ office, 858 Cherry Rd in Rock Hill. Details and ticket purchase here.

They also talk about the protests that continue across the country and right here in York County. Protests have been sponsored by Indivisible, York County Rising, 50501, and MoveOn. They will continue, with York County Rising scheduling one every other Saturday along Dave Lyle Blvd (at White St) in Rock Hill at 2 pm. The next few are May 3, 17 and 31. So have dessert 🍰 with us...

Once again, York County was part of thousands of protests nationwide on April 19, this time with the theme No Kings. The Rock Hill event was coordinated by the fairly new progressive group York County Rising, in cooperation with 50501, Move On, and many other organizations.

And once again, YCDP TV was there to document the action. We have an extended interview with Brian from York County Rising to learn what this new group is all about. He appears for a minute at the top of the program, and much more toward the end.

They are planning...

Saturday, April 5, 2025 saw Hands Off protests in cities and towns nationwide, including Rock Hill in York County. Not the biggest, probably not the smallest… several hundred people lined Main Street near Fountain Park, and Dave Lyle Blvd to let the world know that we don’t like what’s happeining in Washington and Columbia.

More are planned, nearly every week. You’ll probably see a notice on the YCDP Facebook Group (a private group).

The York County Democratic Party met for our annual Convention on March 15, 2025 in Newport, SC. We elected officers for the next two years. See the Convention Page for details.

When we recorded Episode 28, after we finished talking about the upcoming YCDP Convention, Gary asked the assembled Board members to get political for a bit. And they did.

In this episode, YCDP Executive Board members discuss the upcoming Annual Conventiuon, and a little bit about the State Convention. Details on the Convention itself are here on the website.

Here are the basics:

Date: March 15, 2025

Time: 10 AM

Location: Union Baptist Church, 1195 Hands Mill Hwy, Rock Hill, SC 29732 (Newport)

We’d like you to register if you plan to come.That and lots of other stuff on the web page.

When you get down to the level of School Board, many voters find themselves in the dark. School board seats are non-partisan, and the YCDP does not endorse any.

There is a fairly new organization in York County called CAPE (Community Advocates FOR Public Education) that has taken on the mission of getting the word out. CAPE is also non-partisan and education focused, but they do advocate for all students.

They recently participated in a School Board Candidate Forum hosted by - yes - the York County Conservative Club. All but two of the candidates...

On this episode, Nikita Jackson (YCDP Chair) and John Holder (too many to list) were two of the official Delegates to the DNC in Chicago, and we also have two 'Honored Guests' who also attended: Hattie Ross and William 'Perk' Perkins.

They had fun, they have stories, and at least John has COVID😷.

So, that Show Open thing.... So far, I've just started the shows by sitting in front of the Studio in the Bonus Room... I'm pretty sure that's scaring people away. So I'm asking YOU to help out.

Here's how. Record a...

YCDP Chair Nikita Jackson, 2nd Vice-Chair Ryan Stephens and multiple office-holder John Holder are among the delegates from York County and the 5th Congressional District who will be headed to Chicago in a couple weeks to participate in the Democratic National Convention. We talk about what they're expecting, and the big changes in the party with President Joe Biden dropping out of the race and endorsing VP Kamala Harris.

Attending the convention is expensive 💰. The state party estimates it will cost each delegate around $4000, and all the expense is on the delegates. So Nikita and Ryan are tak...

Have you participated in any of those mass Zoom calls.... events.... in support of VP Kamala Harris' run for President? Your producer (Gary) hasn't, but Nile, Monica and Pat have. They talk about the experience and the energy that built so quickly after President Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris.

Evangeline Hundley launched her campaign for US House from the South Carolina 5th Congressional District (including all of York County) with a party at the Mercantile in Rock Hill on June 12, the day after the Republican Primary. Matt Vilardebo, candidate for SC House from Fort Mill (District 26) introduced her.

Hundley did not have a Primary opponent, so moves directly to the November 5th General Election, once again facing off against incumbent Republican Ralph Norman.

This is Hundley’s second run at the office. Norman defeated her in 2022, her first attempt at any political office. She co...

The South Carolina Democratic Party Convention was held on May 18 in Columbia. The YCDP sent over 60 delegates. Our job was to approve rules and a platform, and elect some of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this summer. YCDP will send several delegates and alternates to that convention.

In this program, we talk to several of the delegates from York County and the rest of the state to get a feeling for what the convention means to those attending. Then we drop in on each stage of the convention itself… but we’re not tryi...

March 16 was the first day that candidates for the ‘down ballot’ offices in South Carolina could file for the June 11 Primary. The YCDP-TV production crew (just me - Gary) headed out to the Government Building in the County Seat (the Town of York) to catch the action.

I was going to meet Matt Vilardebo – Matt was filing to make his second run at the SC House in District 26 (Fort Mill area). I expected a quiet exchange down in the elections office in the basement. Fill out some forms, pay a fee, hit the road.

Instead, I foun...

The YCDP held our 2024 Convention on Saturday, March 9 in Rock Hill. Officers were elected, Matt Vilardebo was introduced as candidate for SC House from District 26, several Resolutions were passed (and sent to the SCDP), and our keynote speaker was Carol Fowler from the SCDP and Richmond County Democratic Party. And it’s all here on our YouTube Channel!

The video at our YouTube Channel has an extensive time-coded INDEX to all the activity at the Convention to make it easier to zero in on whatever you want to review.

Student debt relief isn’t just a headline. It impacts real people, many of them here in York County. And in this episode, we’ll meet two of them.

Mary Long is a retired mother of two, and took on a buden of debt to put her kids through college, an opportunity she never had. But a series of plant closings left her unemployed for a time, while the interest on that debt kept mounting. Kizmet Moore put herself through college, including a Master’s Degree, but the cost was staggering. Both had the balance of their loans...

Matt Vilardebo has announced his second run for SC House District 26 which covers the Fort Mill area in York County. This year, incumbent Republican Raye Felder has announced that she is not running for reelection, making the seat wide open, and a better chance to flip Democrat.

At this point, Matt is the only candidate to declare for this seat in the Democratic Primary (to be held June 11). The deadline for filing is April 1st (and filing doesn’t even begin until March 16th), so most offices up for reelection this year don’t have declared candidates yet...

The First in the Nation Democratic Presidential Preference Primary is over. The media have moved on. South Carolina had its moment in the spotlight.

But for us here in York County, it’s worth taking time to reflect and review what it was all about, and what it meant to us. The outcome wasn’t a surprise, and we expected a low turnout. But was it ‘good enough’?

Joining us are YCDP Chair Nikita Jackson, 3rd Vice Chair Amber Pearson-Bowen, and one of our representatives on the SCDP Executive Committee (and our institutional memory) John Holder...

Wes Climer is the Republican State Senator from District 15 in York County.

On February 1, 2024, he presented a 'Town Hall' on his Facebook page, talking about some of the issues before the state Senate and taking a few questions. The session ran about 30 minutes. We edited that down to a 4- minute synopsys, without any editorial comment of our own, just to give you an idea of what he had to present.

It will be kind of choppy, without a transition between topics, but we think you can follow along. You can see the full session...

Don’t look now, but it’s election season 👀. South Carolina is host to the First in the Nation Democratic Party Presidential Preference Primary on Fegruary 3rd. That’s First, plus or minus New Hampshire just ignoring the DNC’s mandate (but without Joe Biden on the ballot 😮). And the RNC sticking to their traditional calendar and voting three weeks later in February, well after Iowa and New Hampshire. 🙄

The Primary calendar is complicated by all that, and the effect it has on early voting. And the third Primary date in June for all the other offices on the ballot. Pe...

South Carolina is playing catch-up. 22 other states have beaten us to the punch in passing anti-trans legislation, specifically laws that prohibit giving kids under 18 what’s called ‘Gender Affirming Care’. But we’re getting back in the game. The first legislation the ‘3M’ committee in the SC House took up in the new session in January 2024 was our own anti-trans bill. It’s H-4624. They call it Gender Reassignment Procedures. We call it… well, read the title of this show.

For anyone under 18, the bill would outlaw drugs that block the onset of puberty while a kid, their doctor and...

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