How GoodParty.org Helped Power a Historic Win in Rock Hill, SC

On November 5, 2024, Jennifer Hutchinson made history by becoming the first African American to win a citywide elected seat in Rock Hill, South Carolina. 

In an election marked by high voter turnout, Hutchinson came away with 67% of the vote. Hutchinson defeated opponent Fred Jordan, securing her place as one of Rock Hill’s five newly elected school board members. 

Hutchinson’s campaign exemplifies the power of grassroots organizing. Read on to hear how Hutchinson used GoodParty.org’s SMS/MMS messaging support to power her historic victory.

Making History in Rock Hill, South Carolina

Hutchinson’s campaign for school board resulted in a historic win, breaking barriers in Rock Hill.

“I am actually the first African American to win a citywide seat in Rock Hill, South Carolina, ever,” Hutchinson said. “We’ve had people of color and Black people win district seats in specific areas of town, but never someone who actually won the whole city. I won the whole city, and I won 46 out of the 47 precincts in Rock Hill.”

Hutchinson added that she couldn’t have reached as many voters as she did without GoodParty.org’s texting support.

“The vote tally is the highest ever for an at-large candidate, so I really feel like those text messages helped. But again, I just try to be my authentic self too. I pray that that's what came off to people and they trusted me,” Hutchinson said.

Inside Jennifer Hutchinson’s Campaign for School Board

Hutchinson’s journey to candidacy began with a personal challenge that exposed systemic issues in the school system.

“I decided to run for school board because a couple of years ago, when my son, who's now a fourth grader, was getting ready to go to elementary school, the elementary school that we were zoned for closed,” Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson shared that the school district had made plans to close more elementary schools as well. Soon, three elementary schools had closed — schools that predominantly served minority communities.

“It disproportionately affected not only people of color, but just people of lesser means,” Hutchinson said. “Fortunately, we were able to get my son into another school, but there were so many kids that were affected by the changing of the schools — being shipped to one school for one year and shipped to another. I really started paying attention to what was happening.”

After that, Hutchinson began attending school board meetings. Over time, she began to feel that the board’s decisions did not align with the community’s needs. 

In 2022, Hutchinson got involved with local school board campaigns. She then decided to run for office herself.

“I decided to run because I want to be an advocate for the Rock Hill community — not just people of color, but just the working class,” Hutchinson said. “I'm a mom that goes to work every day. I know what it's like to have your life upended when your child has a change that you're not prepared for, so I want to be a voice for working parents and working families in this community.”

Reaching Voters with Help from GoodParty.org

Hutchinson ran a successful grassroots campaign for school board. She said that while her opponent’s campaign was heavily financed, hers only accepted small donations. She also ran for office without a campaign manager.

Running a grassroots campaign with limited resources presented challenges, but Hutchinson leaned on her network and GoodParty.org’s tools to overcome them.

“A lot of people were really astounded by the way and the magnitude that I ran and won, because I did a lot of it by myself,” Hutchinson said.

During the final stage of her campaign, Hutchinson tapped into GoodParty.org’s resources. She especially made use of GoodParty.org’s SMS/MMS messaging support. This feature let her send text blasts to voters before election day.

This gave Hutchinson the power to respond to a previous text blast from her opponent. His campaign’s text messages had spread misinformation about her candidacy.

“This is a school board race, so I'm just trying to be positive. Because I'm a mom, I just want to be an example for my own kids,” Hutchinson said. “But they sent out a really negative text about me that talked about things I didn't even say. I felt compelled to defend myself at that point.”

GoodParty.org provided Hutchinson with one-on-one guidance from a political associate as she crafted her response.

“I was talking to Kyron, and he was like, ‘You want to stay positive. You want to be above board. You want to talk about the fact that you're a mom, that this is important to you, that you want to be an advocate for everybody.’ So that's what I did. He helped give me the tools and the tips on how to craft the first message and even the second message. I'm thankful for that,” Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson said that sending the messages helped her in two ways:

“If I had not sent out that text, I would have personally had anxiety outside of the roof, because I was in panic mode. So it helped ease my own personal anxiety. I also think if I had not defended myself, then I may have appeared weak to the electorate,” she said.

Hutchinson reported receiving positive feedback from voters. Overall, she called GoodParty.org’s text messaging support “a game changer.”

“I'm grateful that I won, and I definitely appreciate being able to use you guys in the ninth hour or the 11th hour. That text blast was a game changer,” Hutchinson told GoodParty.org. “I wish I would have pulled the trigger sooner, because it was hard. I really couldn't have done it without y'all.”

Learn more about GoodParty.org’s affordable and effective texting campaign service here.

Advocating for the Rock Hill Community

Since getting elected, Hutchinson has begun planning for her time in office. She said her top priority is to ensure that no more Rock Hill schools close without a plan in place.

“That's the biggest thing for me, seeing how it affects children's lives. A child that experiences a school closure is 5% more likely to not graduate from high school and not go to college. Even if it's 1%, that's 1% too many — so making sure that we make sound decisions for our school alignment is important,” Hutchinson said.

Beyond addressing closures, Hutchinson is focused on retaining teachers and restoring a culture of pride and excellence in Rock Hill schools.

“I want to restore that culture of excellence. I want teachers to be happy to be in Rock Hill schools,” Hutchinson said. “As a board member, I want to make sure that I'm communicative to the people in my community. I want to make sure that I'm communicating how decisions are being made, so that people feel comfortable with the decisions that we make at the end of the day.”

A Model for Grassroots Success

Hutchinson’s victory in Rock Hill demonstrates the power of grassroots organizing. She is also one of thousands of Independent, people-powered, and anti-corruption candidates elected to local office in 2024. 

Hutchinson is one of a growing number of leaders who have relied on GoodParty.org’s campaign tools to power their campaigns to victory.

Thinking about running for office in your community? Read Hutchinson’s winning advice for Independent candidates:

“Besides using GoodParty.org, I think the best advice that I could give to someone is to write out a plan and make sure that you think about your community and what your community wants to see in that plan,” Hutchinson said. “Whether it's signs, whether it's text messages, whether it's mailers, think about how you want to lay that out week by week, month by month. Try to follow that plan as appropriately and feasibly as possible. Additionally, I would recommend to trust yourself, trust your instincts, and be true to yourself and true to who you are. Don't change. Don't try to fit into something that you're not. Just be yourself. Know what your intentions are, and believe in yourself.”

As Hutchinson begins her term, her historic win can serve as an inspiration for other communities and candidates striving to make a difference.