CandidateDemocratic

Zyon Khalifa

U.S. House District 2

2026 South Carolina U.S. House — District 2 — General Election · November 3, 2026

Published evidence-backed profile

This candidacy is retained from an exact active South Carolina State Election Commission general-election row. All displayed profile fields retain exact source evidence, and later withdrawals, substitutions, litigation, or certified-list changes remain monitored.

Last reviewed September 15, 2026

Overview

Current race
2026 South Carolina U.S. House — District 2 — General Election on November 3, 2026
Official candidacy
U.S. House District 2 · Democratic · Candidate
Identity match
Identity verified in official records

Policy statements from campaign-controlled sources are labeled candidate positions; they are not independently presented as proven outcomes.

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South Carolina State Election Commission — Candidate Tracking System

11/3/2026 Statewide General Election

Candidate: Zyon Khalifa

Party: Democratic

Office: U.S. House of Representatives, District 2

Status: Active

Experience

Verified records and candidate-provided claims are labeled separately.

From This Community. Fighting for Its Future.

Source-published biography

Zyon Khalifa, a native of Aiken County, is an Air Force reservist and former track star at the University of South Carolina. At age 25, he is the youngest nominee for a congressional seat in South Carolina history, having prevailed in a June 2026 runoff over the Democrats’ 2024 nominee. He faces incumbent Rep. Joe Wilson, a Republican who has held the Aiken-Lexington-Columbia- area seat since the year Zyon was born.Having spent part of his teenage years in foster care, Zyon learned that life wasn’t going to wait for him to be ready to live it. The starting gun fired early on Zyon’s adulthood, and he’s been running — literally and figuratively — ever since. At Silver Bluff High School, he was the state’s top-ranked high school track athlete. He also played football, was a ranked wrestler, golfed and fenced. The Aiken Standard in 2019 named him male athlete of the year. Zyon joined the Air Force reserves in 2020 as a specialist in transportation logistics while running track at the University of South Carolina, adding rugby to his sports. He also worked part time as a mechanic before earning his BA in business administration in 2023. In May he earned a Juris Doctor from Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he worked with the local public defender’s office. Shaped by strong community, meaningful opportunity and responsible institutions, Zyon believes a person’s starting position in life should never determine how far they go. That philosophy has informed his work with the ACLU of Colorado, the Alliance for Children’s Rights and community-based law offices in South Carolina and Louisiana.

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Zyon Khalifa, a native of Aiken County, is an Air Force reservist and former track star at the University of South Carolina. At age 25, he is the youngest nominee for a congressional seat in South Carolina history, having prevailed in a June 2026 runoff over the Democrats’ 2024 nominee. He faces incumbent Rep. Joe Wilson, a Republican who has held the Aiken-Lexington-Columbia- area seat since the year Zyon was born.Having spent part of his teenage years in foster care, Zyon learned that life wasn’t going to wait for him to be ready to live it. The starting gun fired early on Zyon’s adulthood, and he’s been running — literally and figuratively — ever since. At Silver Bluff High School, he was the state’s top-ranked high school track athlete. He also played football, was a ranked wrestler, golfed and fenced. The Aiken Standard in 2019 named him male athlete of the year. Zyon joined the Air Force reserves in 2020 as a specialist in transportation logistics while running track at the University of South Carolina, adding rugby to his sports. He also worked part time as a mechanic before earning his BA in business administration in 2023. In May he earned a Juris Doctor from Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he worked with the local public defender’s office. Shaped by strong community, meaningful opportunity and responsible institutions, Zyon believes a person’s starting position in life should never determine how far they go. That philosophy has informed his work with the ACLU of Colorado, the Alliance for Children’s Rights and community-based law offices in South Carolina and Louisiana.

Building the Future — Together

Source-published biography

Because South Carolina’s District 2 deserves leadership from someone who grew up here, believes in its people, and is ready to fight for its future.

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Because South Carolina’s District 2 deserves leadership from someone who grew up here, believes in its people, and is ready to fight for its future.

Positions and priorities

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Each summary is supported by the candidate's own words from a campaign source, direct candidate response, or official primary record retained with the profile.

Economy, jobs, taxes, and affordability

Candidate position

Promote Good-Paying Jobs: Focus on attracting sustainable industries to rural and overlooked areas, ensuring quality job opportunities that uplift local economies.

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Promote Good-Paying Jobs: Focus on attracting sustainable industries to rural and overlooked areas, ensuring quality job opportunities that uplift local economies.

Economic Growth

Candidate position

Encourage Local Innovation: Develop mentorship programs and resources for aspiring entrepreneurs to stimulate local economic growth.

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Encourage Local Innovation: Develop mentorship programs and resources for aspiring entrepreneurs to stimulate local economic growth.

Economy, jobs, taxes, and affordability

Candidate position

Ensure Fair Compensation: Implement a minimum wage increase so that full-time workers can achieve financial stability and support their families.

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Ensure Fair Compensation: Implement a minimum wage increase so that full-time workers can achieve financial stability and support their families.

Economy, jobs, taxes, and affordability

Candidate position

Develop Job Training Programs: Establish partnerships with local businesses and educational institutions to create job training programs that equip young people with essential skills.

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Develop Job Training Programs: Establish partnerships with local businesses and educational institutions to create job training programs that equip young people with essential skills.

Economic Growth

Candidate position

Support Recruitment and Retention: Implement initiatives to recruit new teachers and provide support for current educators, including mentorship programs and professional development opportunities.

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Support Recruitment and Retention: Implement initiatives to recruit new teachers and provide support for current educators, including mentorship programs and professional development opportunities.

Economic Growth

Candidate position

Provide Safe and Enriching Environments: Invest in afterschool programs that offer academic support, enrichment activities, and safe spaces for students, helping to foster well-rounded development.

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Provide Safe and Enriching Environments: Invest in afterschool programs that offer academic support, enrichment activities, and safe spaces for students, helping to foster well-rounded development.

Economic Growth

Candidate position

Address the Uninsured: Focus on reducing the approximately nine percent of South Carolinians who are uninsured by enhancing outreach and enrollment efforts for available health programs.

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Address the Uninsured: Focus on reducing the approximately nine percent of South Carolinians who are uninsured by enhancing outreach and enrollment efforts for available health programs.

Health care

Candidate position

Increase Availability: Expand access to mental health services, ensuring that individuals receive the support they need for their mental well-being.

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Increase Availability: Expand access to mental health services, ensuring that individuals receive the support they need for their mental well-being.

Social Security, Medicare, and retirement

Candidate position

Strengthen Medicare Services: Advocate for enhancements to Medicare, ensuring comprehensive coverage and support for all eligible South Carolinians.

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Strengthen Medicare Services: Advocate for enhancements to Medicare, ensuring comprehensive coverage and support for all eligible South Carolinians.

Health care

Candidate position

Expand Healthcare Facilities: Work to increase the number of hospitals and healthcare services in underserved areas, improving access to quality medical care for all communities.

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Expand Healthcare Facilities: Work to increase the number of hospitals and healthcare services in underserved areas, improving access to quality medical care for all communities.

Transportation and infrastructure

Candidate position

Invest in Rural and Small-Town Communities: Commit to repairing and upgrading roads, bridges, and essential infrastructure to ensure safe and efficient transportation for all residents.

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Invest in Rural and Small-Town Communities: Commit to repairing and upgrading roads, bridges, and essential infrastructure to ensure safe and efficient transportation for all residents.

Economy, jobs, taxes, and affordability

Candidate position

Support Sustainable Growth: Encourage development projects that create jobs while ensuring that small towns are included and benefit from economic opportunities, fostering inclusive growth.

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Support Sustainable Growth: Encourage development projects that create jobs while ensuring that small towns are included and benefit from economic opportunities, fostering inclusive growth.

Energy, water, and environment

Candidate position

Transition to Renewable Energy: Advocating for policies that promote solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources to reduce carbon emissions.

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Transition to Renewable Energy: Advocating for policies that promote solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources to reduce carbon emissions.

Immigration Reform

Candidate position

We believe in accountability and fairness. Laws matter, and they should be followed. But government has a responsibility to ensure that people have a clear, timely, and functional path through the system. When the system is broken, it creates chaos, not order.

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We believe in accountability and fairness. Laws matter, and they should be followed. But government has a responsibility to ensure that people have a clear, timely, and functional path through the system. When the system is broken, it creates chaos, not order.

Immigration Reform

Candidate position
true

Fix the backlog so cases are processed faster and people aren’t stuck waiting for years

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Fix the backlog so cases are processed faster and people aren’t stuck waiting for years

Immigration Reform

Candidate position

Increase oversight and transparency in detention facilities to ensure humane treatment and accountability

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Increase oversight and transparency in detention facilities to ensure humane treatment and accountability

Immigration Reform

Candidate position

Guarantee due process protections, so outcomes are fair, consistent, and constitutional

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Guarantee due process protections, so outcomes are fair, consistent, and constitutional

Immigration Reform

Candidate position

Improve coordination and training so enforcement is smart, targeted, and effective

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Improve coordination and training so enforcement is smart, targeted, and effective

Immigration Reform

Candidate position

We can be a nation of laws and a nation of opportunity at the same time. That means holding people accountable, while also making sure the system itself is efficient, fair, and worthy of trust.

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We can be a nation of laws and a nation of opportunity at the same time. That means holding people accountable, while also making sure the system itself is efficient, fair, and worthy of trust.

Who We Will Accept Money From

Candidate position

Working families

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Working families

Health care

Candidate position

We believe every woman deserves the freedom to make decisions about her own life, body, and future. That includes access to quality healthcare, equal opportunity in the workplace, and the ability to live safely and with dignity.

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We believe every woman deserves the freedom to make decisions about her own life, body, and future. That includes access to quality healthcare, equal opportunity in the workplace, and the ability to live safely and with dignity.

Reproductive rights and health care

Candidate position

Protecting access to reproductive healthcare, including contraception, sufficient funding for alternatives, focusing on the mental and physical health of mothers.

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Protecting access to reproductive healthcare, including contraception, sufficient funding for alternatives, focusing on the mental and physical health of mothers.

Education, child care, and workforce training

Candidate position

Supporting working families through enacting a mandatory paid maternity leave and affordable childcare.

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Supporting working families through enacting a mandatory paid maternity leave and affordable childcare.

Public record

Public-record research limitation

Public-record research limitation

This does not mean the candidate has no prior public service or record. A record attaches only after authoritative office history and a stable provider identity are established; names, titles, attendance, sponsorship, and inferred responsibility are insufficient.

Campaign finance

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Research boundary

Claims that did not clear the publication standard remain visibly excluded.

Complete public-action archive

Not published

Reason: NO_STABLE_ELIGIBLE_PUBLIC_RECORD_IDENTITY_ATTACHED

Name-only matches and candidate-stated prior service never attach another person's records.

Sources

Every profile claim points back to retained source evidence.

  1. Election record

    2026 South Carolina election record — Zyon Khalifa

    South Carolina State Election Commission

    Open South Carolina State Election Commission
  2. Candidate-owned primary source

    Zyon Khalifa — candidate-owned primary source 2

    Zyon Khalifa campaign

    Open Zyon Khalifa campaign

    Link checked September 15, 2026.

  3. Candidate-owned primary source

    Zyon Khalifa — candidate-owned primary source 4

    Zyon Khalifa campaign

    Open Zyon Khalifa campaign
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