Dr. Kasie Whitener, the Libertarian nominee for U.S. Senate in South Carolina, is pitching fiscal reform and political independence to voters ahead of the Nov. 3 general election.

Whitener has ties to the Fort Mill area. She co-hosts "Mornings with Kasie and Kev" on local talk radio station 100.7 The Point and earned a master's degree from Winthrop University in 2004. She is a clinical assistant professor of entrepreneurship at the University of South Carolina's Darla Moore School of Business.

In an Oct. 8 candidate spotlight published by the Fort Mill Sun, Whitener called the national debt her top priority. She proposed three fixes: simplifying the tax code, reforming Social Security and Medicare spending, and cutting regulations in healthcare and energy to grow the economy.

"The national debt is the most important issue, it's the reason everything is so expensive and neither of the two parties will do anything about it," Whitener said. "In fact, they're making it worse."

Her budget plan calls for zero-based budgeting across all federal agencies, requiring each department to justify its spending from scratch each year with a mandatory 5% cut until the debt is addressed. She said she would evaluate all legislation based on its impact on South Carolina rather than follow a party line.

Whitener was born in Florence, South Carolina, and attended Clemson University starting in 1995, graduating in 1999. She earned her PhD from Capella University in 2014, according to Ballotpedia. She has taught at USC since 2017.

She served as president of the South Carolina Writers Association for four years. She also chaired the South Carolina Libertarian Party for two years before launching her Senate campaign in March 2025. She won the Libertarian convention on April 11, defeating Jason Brenkus.

The Nov. 3 ballot features five candidates: Republican Sen. Darline Graham, Democratic nominee Dr. Annie Andrews, Whitener, Constitution Party candidate Mark Hackett and write-in candidate Catherine Fleming Bruce. Whitener noted in the Fort Mill Sun spotlight that all three leading candidates are women and that none has won elected office before. Graham was appointed to the Senate seat, not elected.

In an Oct. 1 interview with FITSNews, Whitener described a "blue ocean strategy" of campaigning in small towns where major-party campaigns do not compete. Her campaign has raised $17,264 and spent $14,658, according to Ballotpedia, though those figures predate the Oct. 15 quarterly FEC filing deadline.

The best showing by a Libertarian candidate in South Carolina this century was 2.34%, earned by presidential candidate Gary Johnson in November 2016, FITSNews reported.

The Cook Political Report shifted the South Carolina Senate race from "solidly Republican" to "likely Republican" on Sept. 23, The State reported. A Trafalgar Group poll conducted Sept. 23-25 found Graham at 43.4% and Andrews at 42.3% among 1,087 respondents, with a margin of error of 2.9%, according to ABC News 4. The poll did not include Whitener by name, but Citadel political scientist Dr. Mark Owens told the station that third-party candidates could affect the outcome.

All three leading candidates are set to debate Sunday, Oct. 11, at 7 p.m. on SCETV.

Early voting begins Monday, Oct. 19.