Alexis Frank’s Political Positions: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

South Carolina is about to vote in a special election.

In the state’s 5th district, a number of candidates are running for the seat in Congress vacated by Mick Mulvaney, who earlier this year left in order to become Donald Trump’s director of the Office and Management and Budget.

On the Democratic side, one of the candidates is Alexis Frank, a U.S. army veteran with no prior political experience. So what is her platform? Where does she stand on the issues? Here’s what you need to know.


1. She Says She Will Fight Donald Trump’s Travel Ban & Border Wall

One of Frank’s campaign pledges is that if she is elected to Congress, she will fight Donald Trump on his proposed border wall and travel ban, the latter of which she believes is unconstitutional.

“The decision to close our borders to people from specific countries (many of which are off-limits for unwarranted reasons) or to spend 21 billion dollars building a wall to separate us from one of our closest allies is unacceptable,” she says on her website. “I believe Trump’s travel ban is unconstitutional and will do everything I can to fight it. I will do all in my power to fight Trump’s fiscally irresponsible and totally unnecessary ‘wall.'”

She goes on to say that refugees already go through a two-year vetting process, and the United States should not turn away heavily vetted, innocent people from war-torn nations.

Also on the topic of immigration, Frank promises to fight for those protected by DACA.


2. She Says the Trump Administration is Leading an Assault on Women’s Rights

Alexis Frank also promises to fight for women’s issues, which she says are under attack under the Trump administration.

“Our nation is facing an assault on women’s rights lead by the current administration,” Frank says on her website. “Whether it is the normalization of sexism, an assault on reproductive health rights, or anti-woman legislation – now more than ever we need women in Congress who unapologetically stand up for women’s rights.”

Frank goes on to say that the nation needs to develop a plan for combatting violence against women. In addition, she says that she will fight for equal pay for equal work.

“The wage gap in South Carolina decreased by 7.8 percent from 2007-2015 but that still leaves women in South Carolina making 80 cents to 1 dollar of their male counterparts,” she says.

Frank says that she will stand with Planned Parenthood while in Congress and protect a women’s rights to choose.

Finally, Frank says that she attended the Women’s March on Washington in January, and she suggests that sexual assault has become normalized by Donald Trump.

“In January I attended the Women’s March on Washington with my daughter to take a stand against predatory behavior being accepted as normal in the People’s House,” she says.


3. She Supports Raising the Minimum Wage

When it comes to the topic of jobs, Alexis Frank supports raising the minimum wage. However, on her website she does not specify what she believes the federal minimum wage should be raised to.

Frank also promises to bring new jobs to South Carolina.

“Economic recovery has yet to reach many residents of District 5,” she says. “That’s why I support investments in infrastructure, training, and education to create new job opportunities in industries like green energy, technology, transportation, waste management, and entertainment.”

In addition, Frank says she will support legislation to help retrofit existing business facilities to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

And when in comes to taxes, Frank says that she supports raising taxes on billionaires.


4. She Supports Allowing Transgender Americans to Use the Bathroom That Corresponds With Their Gender Identity

When it comes to LGBTQ issues, Alexis Frank is in support of allowing transgender Americans to use whichever bathroom corresponds with their gender identity.

She says that she opposes legislation like North Carolina’s House Bill 2, also known as the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, which says that Americans can only use the bathroom of the gender listed on their birth certificate.

Alexis Frank believes that pieces of legislation like this are wrong.

“These are not men going into women’s bathrooms,” she says in a campaign ad. “These are women who know that they are women in their heart and their soul and they live their lives as women, and these are women who know in their heart and soul that they are men and they live their lives as men, and they believe everything in their being that they are men, and they are going into these bathrooms where they feel that they belong, and we need to treat them as though that they are the same people that we think that we are.”


5. She Supports a Universal Healthcare Plan

Like most Democrats, Alexis Frank is against Republicans’ plan to repeal and replace Obamacare.

On her website, Frank says that Obamacare “was not perfect” but that the Republicans’ replacement means that millions of Americans will lose their insurance.

“This is totally unacceptable,” she says. “If I am elected to Congress I will do everything I can to fight for ordinary Americans to have access to the healthcare they need and deserve.”

However, unlike a lot of Democrats, Alexis Frank believes that Obamacare should be replaced with a new, universal healthcare system.

“I will support all bills put forward for a Universal Healthcare Plan,” she says. “Until we educate our Country enough to realize that everyone can benefit from Universal Healthcare, I will continue to fight for the ACA.”