Jessica Holdman

Jessica Holdman

[email protected]

Jessica Holdman is a senior reporter for the SC Daily Gazette. She has more than a decade of newspaper experience, most recently with The Post and Courier. Before moving to South Carolina in 2019, she worked for newspapers in North Dakota, Washington and her home state of Missouri. Her reporting has won awards from the North Dakota and South Carolina press associations. Jessica reports on South Carolina’s workforce, the economy and higher education.

SC approves state funding for Flock cameras despite growing privacy concerns
South Carolina

SC approves state funding for Flock cameras despite growing privacy concerns

Sep 11, 2026
Jessica Holdman
COLUMBIA — Some South Carolina law enforcement are doubling down on the use of Flock cameras, even as scrutiny over the AI-powered surveillance devices has mounted nationwide. State legislators approved $365,000 in the state budget for four police and sheriff’s...
USC celebrates 225th anniversary in 2026
South Carolina

USC celebrates 225th anniversary in 2026

Sep 10, 2026
Jessica Holdman
COLUMBIA — Dec. 19 marks 225 years since the founding of South Carolina’s flagship university. “But we’re not going to wait to start celebrating,” University of South Carolina President Michael Amiridis told attendees of the annual State of the University...
Upcoming textile exhibit to offer ‘a personal connection’ to the crew of the Hunley submarine
South Carolina

Upcoming textile exhibit to offer ‘a personal connection’ to the crew of the Hunley submarine

Sep 10, 2026
Jessica Holdman
CHARLESTON — A silk bandana worn around a crew member’s neck. A boot that still bears the footprint of the man who wore it. And a brass oil can with oil still inside. These are among items recovered and preserved...
SC to rebuild 169-year-old slave cabin destroyed by Hurricane Helene
South Carolina

SC to rebuild 169-year-old slave cabin destroyed by Hurricane Helene

Sep 08, 2026
Jessica Holdman
For more than a decade, the descendants of sharecroppers and people once enslaved on South Carolina’s Redcliffe Plantation gathered each year inside the former slave quarters on the property — now a state historic site — that their ancestors once...
How many South Carolina college grads stay in state for work?
South Carolina

How many South Carolina college grads stay in state for work?

Sep 07, 2026
Jessica Holdman
COLUMBIA — Over the past decade and a half, more than 60% of South Carolina college graduates went to work in the Palmetto State in the year after receiving their diploma. But by year three, that drops 10 percentage points...
Here’s what happened to the late Sen. Graham’s leftover campaign dollars
South Carolina

Here’s what happened to the late Sen. Graham’s leftover campaign dollars

Sep 04, 2026
Jessica Holdman
COLUMBIA — As Sen. Darline Graham prepares to take on Democrat Annie Andrews in November to keep the seat for the next six years, she’ll do so having inherited much of her late brother’s well-funded political machine. The unexpected death...
Johnson defied odds in the SC gubernatorial primary. Now people want to know if he can do it again.
South Carolina

Johnson defied odds in the SC gubernatorial primary. Now people want to know if he can do it again.

Sep 03, 2026
Jessica Holdman
COLUMBIA — Rep. Jermaine Johnson spoke of his journey from a homeless childhood in California to his election to the South Carolina Statehouse. He then asked the more than 50 people gathered Wednesday at First Calvary Baptist Church to send...
USC leaders tout buildout, enrollment growth amid broader higher ed headwinds
South Carolina

USC leaders tout buildout, enrollment growth amid broader higher ed headwinds

Aug 31, 2026
Jessica Holdman
COLUMBIA — The University of South Carolina has been on a massive construction spree while also setting new records annually around student enrollment, private fundraising and securing a large share of state taxpayer dollars to make it all happen. At...
Spartanburg data center not subject to public power plant rules, SC regulators rule
South Carolina

Spartanburg data center not subject to public power plant rules, SC regulators rule

Aug 27, 2026
Jessica Holdman
COLUMBIA — South Carolina utility regulators ruled a Spartanburg data center that wants to generate its own power is not subject to the same regulatory process as power plants. NorthMark Strategies, along with its subsidiary Valara Holdings, is converting a...
SC to receive upwards of $247M in Meta settlement over child safety on social media
South Carolina

SC to receive upwards of $247M in Meta settlement over child safety on social media

Aug 26, 2026
Jessica Holdman
COLUMBIA — Facebook parent company Meta settled a 47-state lawsuit for up to $17.1 billion and vowed to make its social media platforms safer for children. South Carolina’s share of the settlement will be at least $247 million, and perhaps...
No issues reported as DOJ conducts monitoring of GOP Senate runoff in Charleston County
South Carolina

No issues reported as DOJ conducts monitoring of GOP Senate runoff in Charleston County

Aug 25, 2026
Jessica Holdman
Two teams of federal election observers came to Charleston County as part of routine monitoring of polling places amid the special Republican primary runoff for U.S. Senate. Charleston County election officials reported no polling place issues as of Tuesday afternoon...
USC governing board elects first chairwoman
South Carolina

USC governing board elects first chairwoman

Aug 24, 2026
Jessica Holdman
COLUMBIA — The University of South Carolina’s governing board unanimously elected its first ever chairwoman. Rose Newton, wife of Republican state House Judiciary Chariman Weston Newton, on Friday became the first woman in the school’s nearly 225-year history to lead...