Civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) today endorsed Elizabeth Colbert-Busch in the special election for South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District.
Referring to her in his statement as “my friend and my sister,” Lewis said Colbert-Busch can be the “powerful voice in Washington” that the district needs.
“I know she will be a hard working and dedicated Member of Congress who speaks up and speaks out for the people she serves. She has never been afraid to get in the way. Elizabeth Colbert Busch deserves the help and support of all the people of the Lowcountry.”
His support for Colbert-Busch isn’t based on her own record alone, Lewis said, but the rights-responsible reputation of her family, as well.
“The Colbert family has always been a strong advocate for all the people of South Carolina,” Lewis said, indirectly referring to Colbert-Busch’s late father, Dr. James Colbert, who helped reunite black nurses with MUSC during a 1969 labor strike.
Welcoming Lewis’ support, Colbert-Busch said “It would be the greatest honor imaginable for me to work with a man of his stature. To have the endorsement of someone who is universally recognized for his courage and leadership is humbling.
“I promise to work tirelessly for the people in the 1st District and justify the confidence that they and Rep. Lewis have placed in me.”
Known as “the conscience of Congress,” Lewis was first elected to represent Georgia’s 5th District in 1987, and after decades of activism that include his role as one of the original Freedom Riders and an organizer for Martin Luther King’s “March on Washington” in 1963, and his televised protest immediately following arrest in Selma, Ala. on “Bloody Sunday” in 1965.
The Democratic primary for the 1st Congressional District is on March 19.
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