Sumter mayoral hopeful wants to 'Take Care of Home'

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A Sumter native has hopes to become the City of Sumter's new mayor after she filed for this year's race.

Foxy Rae Campbell, 44, said she can take her leadership skills as a successful businesswoman to lead Sumter.

"I have the foresight and vision to progress our city," Campbell said. "Being the leader of a community takes a person that has a vision and understands how to execute it to bring it into reality. My background gives me the ability to attract larger businesses to the city, advocate for a quality health care. I'm big on education, and that is the recipe for healthy living."

Campbell is currently the owner of Brownstone Real Estate, which she said grew to a multi-million-dollar company. She said her history in the business world and life experiences have given her the leadership skills required to move Sumter forward.

Campbell has worked in the community and participated in different outreach programs, such as the Renewed Life Worship Center in Dalzell. She has also attended several Shaw Air Force Base events.

Her motto, "Taking Care of Home," is what drives her ambition to run for mayor, and it also drives her "Project Sumter Comeback."

Though she has little government experience, Campbell wants to lift Sumter to the best it can be through her proposed project, which focuses on access to affordable health care, addressing socio-economic issues in the community, providing child safety and educational programs, fostering relationships with the military, advocating for better-paying jobs, providing more older adult care resources, providing cleaner water throughout the city, adding more retail shopping and catalyst businesses, providing support for improving business infrastructure, expanding resources for small business/entrepreneurs and continuing to foster an educational community.

Campbell said a focus on health care and economics will stimulate growth and individual sustainability in the Sumter community.

Campbell attended De Laine Elementary School through Hillcrest High School and then graduated from Sumter Catholic High School, which is now known as the former St. Francis Xavier High School. She went on to attend USC Sumter, where she started her undergraduate studies, and finished a bachelor's in marketing management from Western Governors University.

Campbell has worked for Fortune 500 & Fortune 100 companies, an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the largest United States corporations. She said she has also worked with and received training from some of the most influential people in the retail industry.

Campbell said she has gained knowledge about what it takes to have an economic balance between business and community. She also said being a certified project manager has emphasized her planning, procurement and execution ability.

Campbell is a member of Trinity Missionary Baptist Church. She has one son and is the youngest of six children to a mother who is a retired special needs educator and a father who is a Vietnam veteran who received a Purple Heart for valor and Bronze Star for valor.

Filing for the mayoral race, Wards 2, 4 and 6 on Sumter City Council and Seats 5, 6 and 7 on the Sumter school board, all of which are nonpartisan, closes Aug. 17 at noon. The filing fee to be placed on the ballot for mayor is $400.

Anyone who lives in city limits can vote for mayor on Nov. 3. Those voting for council and board seats must live in that district.