South Carolina — 4th District

GREENVILLE — Republican U.S. Rep. William Timmons and Democratic challenger Courtney McClain squared off over healthcare policy, data centers and government spending in their debate for South Carolina’s 4th Congressional District.

The two candidates spent much of the hour-long Oct. 8 broadcast, held in Fox Carolina’s studio, bouncing from rebuttal to rebuttal as they laid out their pitches to the district, which covers Greenville and Spartanburg counties.

Timmons, a four-term incumbent who has said this campaign will be his last, asked Upstate voters to give him two more years to continue improvements he says have been made on immigration and the economy under President Donald Trump.

McClain, a 25-year-old activist and University of South Carolina alumnus, argued the area needs a new representative who can “move the district in a better direction” and pushed against welfare restrictions and healthcare costs.

The seat is considered solidly Republican, and Timmons defeated his Democratic opponent with a 22-point margin in 2024. McClain would be the first Black woman elected to Congress from South Carolina.

Here are some key takeaways from their debate.

At the doctor

One of several sharp distinctions between the two candidates was their answer on how to make healthcare more affordable.

McClain said she was in favor of a Medicare for All system, which would generally establish a single federal insurance program that guarantees coverage, but said the state’s hospital system isn’t currently developed enough to support it.

“Medicare for All wouldn’t happen tomorrow,” she said. “We have to build the infrastructure that we need for our hospital system within Spartanburg and Greenville, but one day, hopefully, healthcare will be treated as a right and not privilege for the few or profits for an insurance company.”

Her position was met with scorn from Timmons, who called it at various times “pie in the sky,” “rainbow land” and “just not possible,” pointing to estimates that a Medicare for All program could cost as much as $40 trillion over 10 years, as much as the current national debt.

He defended the Medicaid work requirements included in the Republican tax and spending bill Trump signed last year, which McClain said she wanted to get rid of. Analysts say they could push millions of people off the program by 2034.

Timmons maintained that “no one will be affected by these changes,” as volunteering can count for the 80-hour-per-month work requirement some people will face starting next year.

“If you want to receive the benefit of a social safety net, and you’re able to contribute, you have to contribute,” he said. “It’s as simple as that.”

But he said the country’s broader healthcare system was “collapsing on itself,” arguing it needs to start from the ground up and incentivize people to lead healthier lifestyles through diet and exercise.

Spending and Social Security

Asked how he’d stop wasteful federal spending, Timmons touted his work on a government efficiency subcommittee in the House, which he said gave him a “front row seat to rooting out fraud, waste and abuse.”

“Honestly, it’s not shocking,” he said. “We’re finding exactly how much fraud you think there would be.”

But he said the only way to stop the nation’s $40 trillion public debt from increasing was to try and grow the economy and cut spending, taking the opportunity to jab at McClain’s Medicare for All idea.

McClain dismissed any claims of cost-saving through anti-fraud efforts, and criticized Timmons again for supporting the GOP’s 2025 tax bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which she said would add around $4 trillion to the debt.

Timmons said that figure was inaccurate, pointing to broader growth in the economy under Trump. An estimate from the Congressional Budget Office put the law’s impact to the federal deficit through 2034 at $3.4 trillion.

The congressman also pushed for creating a national commission to address the pending Social Security shortfall, similar to the 1983 Greenspan Commission whose report led to reforms that year. The program’s payments are set to see cuts when its trust funds run dry in 2032.

Data centers and AI

McClain called for listening to artificial intelligence industry leaders who have asked Washington to limit their technology’s development, and said she would sign onto a moratorium on data center development, which has been a particularly hot-button issue around Spartanburg.

Timmons, whom McClain sometimes referred to as “this politician next to me,” said Congress wasn’t equipped to legislate the question, though he did call for holding businesses accountable when they made mistakes.

“The solution is not us slowing down emerging technology,” he said, echoing Trump’s stance. “That’s just going to push all of the innovation overseas. We cannot do that; we have to lead.”

He also pointed to his vote to require data centers not to increase nearby electricity costs, even as he said the federal government didn’t have much of a role in the debate. That’s for local governments, he said — the needs of Allendale are different than those of Spartanburg.

McClain criticized Timmons for not showing up to local meetings opposing data center developments in Spartanburg (he pointed out that he was busy in Washington and the National Guard) and emphasized that she lived near one of the controversial data centers being built.

“I have stood with the community since Day 1, and in Congress, I will continue to do that in this seat,” McClain said.