Nick Shalosky

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Nicholas Shalosky (born 1987) is a native South Carolina attorney and politician. While still in college, he won a seat as a write-in candidate for the Charleston County Constituent District No. 20 School Board using only campaigning on the Internet through Facebook; he did not spend any funds. He won with 22 votes. [1] [2] He represented the 20th District, downtown Charleston, for a four-year term, which ended in 2012. [3]

Contents

Shalosky is the first openly gay elected official in South Carolina history. [1] [4] [5] When elected, Shalosky was the youngest openly gay elected official in the United States. [2] [6] [7]

He is an attorney in Charleston, SC. In October 2013 Shalosky was selected as a Diversity Fellow at the Charleston School of Law.

Personal life and education

Nick Shalosky grew up in Conway, South Carolina. [1] He "came out" about his sexuality during his sophomore year of high school. [8] His parents still live there. His mother is Vanessa Viles Shalosky. She spoke of her experiences raising a gay child at Charleston School of Law's "My Gay Child" forum. [9]

Nick Shalosky has been a public figure about his sexuality; he spoke at Myrtle Beach and South Carolina Pride gatherings; in 2009 he attended the National Equality March in Washington, D.C.

He attended the College of Charleston where he was a political science major. [6] In his undergraduate years, he was a member of the South Carolina Student Legislature, and the Charleston 40. [6] He graduated in 2010 with a degree in Political Science and Geography. He went to Charleston School of Law, where he also served as a research assistant, and was a member of the Moot Court Board. He was a MUSC Presidential Scholar and served as the President of the Alliance for Equality. [6]

In March 2013 during his last semester of the Charleston School of Law, Shalosky traveled to Washington, DC to hear oral argument related to same-sex marriage cases at the US Supreme Court. California's Proposition 8 was assessed in terms of the constitutionality of marriage equality (or inequality) at the state level, while the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) case challenged federal law. [10] [11]

He graduated in 2013 with a Juris Doctor. Shalosky incorporated his experiences into a 2014 class offering at the Charleston School of Law, "Gender Issues and the Law," which he developed as a Diversity Fellow. [12]

Marriage and family

He and his partner Naylor Brownell, a medical resident, became engaged New Year's Eve in 2012 but could not legally marry in the state of South Carolina until November 2014. [6] [7] [10] [13]

Political career

Shalosky was involved in politics in the late 2000s and became the secretary of the SC Stonewall Democrats chapter; he was also one of the founding board members of the group. [8] He learned about the Stonewall Democrats through Tom Chorlton, a professor and former executive director of the National Gay & Lesbian Democratic Club, a forerunner organization of the Stonewall Democrats. [8] Shalosky participated in the 2008 presidential campaigns volunteering for Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and the successful candidate Barack Obama. [1] At local events he questioned Republican candidates on their positions on gay rights. [1]

He also ran his own campaign as a write-in candidate for the Charleston County School Board. [1] This resulted from his findings during an independent research project at the College of Charleston on the impacts of new technology and the Internet on local elections. Learning of a school board seat that had not attracted candidates 2 weeks before the election, Shalosky he established a moderate online presence using the social networking site Facebook to promote his candidacy. [1] "I thought it would be interesting to see how students could use social networking sites to get one of their own elected." [1] [5] He did not spend any money to campaign. [14] At the time, Obama's campaign was being praised for its use of social media to engage younger voters. [15]

According to The Digitel, Shalosky said he was conducting a "social experiment" to see how use of Facebook could affect a local campaign. [16]

He wrote on Facebook:

"I am doing sort of an experiment to see how Facebook can really effect {sic} a local campaign. Write in my name Nicholas Shalosky and see if we can get any attention. If you think I'm being too egotistical I wouldn't mind deciding on a name to vote for, but I think it would be interesting to see what happens on election day!" [16]

Preliminary election results showed different winners, who were sworn in and attended meetings, than were ultimately certified by the election board following the count of votes for write-in candidates. [17] [18] Shalosky won a seat on the 7-member school board based on the 22 votes cast for him. He had no opponent for the seat. He represented downtown Charleston's 20th District for a four-year term, starting in November 2008. [15] [19]

He said, "Such rapid mobilization might not have been possible only two years ago. But with a Facebook page and a knowledge of online organizing, I secured my winning margin without spending a penny." [8] He was the only school board member elected who was under 40 years old. [5] His professor Bill Moore said Shalosky would start an "independent study of Internet use in politics as part of his curriculum." [15] Post and Courier columnist Ken burger noted that while more traditional advertising of radio and television had also changed the way politicians get votes, those mediums were "top-to-bottom communication," but the Internet allowed "grass-roots groups to dictate outcomes." [15] Burger believed that Shalosky's campaign was the beginning of what will likely be major change to local politics due to use of the Internet. [15]

During his term, in 2010 Shalosky was elected by the board members as vice-chairman of the District 20 Constituent Board. He later was elected by them as the board's chairperson, a rotating position. [6]

Honors

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Forty under 40: POLITICS; gay school board member". The Advocate. Jun 1, 2009. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  2. 1 2 Shalosky, Nicholas A. "HSS Scholar" (PDF). College of Charleston. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  3. ↑ "Charleston County 2012 General Election Results".
  4. ↑ http://polisci.cofc.edu/PDF/Political%20Science%20Annual%20report.pdf Page 19 Archived September 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  5. 1 2 3 "Facebook Got Me Elected: How the New Media Helped Make Me the First Openly-Gay Official in South Carolina by Nick Shalosky". The Bilerico Project. February 18, 2009. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Welcome Our Newest Member and Diversity Fellow, Nicholas A. Shalosky". Charleston School of Law. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  7. 1 2 Ball, Molly (Jan 20, 2012). "How Serious Is Stephen Colbert?". The Atlantic. Retrieved 20 September 2014. Naylor Brownell and Nick Shalosky, a gay couple in their 20s who attended Colbert's speech, said they planned to follow his instructions and vote for Cain.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Armendariz, Rebecca (February 21, 2009). "College student is first openly gay official in S.C." Southern Voice. Archived from the original on September 10, 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2014. Alt URL
  9. ↑ Shalosky, Nick. "My Gay Child". Nick Shalosky via Facebook. Retrieved 20 September 2014. Parents share their candid stories of the challenges and joys of rearing a gay child. Vanessa Viles Shalosky Ms. Shalosky and Mr. Shalosky are the parents of Nicholas Shalosky. Nick is a new attorney and a 2013 graduate of Charleston School of Law. Ms. Shalosky and Mr. Shalosky live in Conway, South Carolina.
  10. 1 2 Cohen, Susan (29 March 2013). "Local gay law student gets into the Supreme Court for marriage equality arguments". Charleston City.
  11. ↑ Petersen, Bo. "Charleston law student gets glimpse of historic hearing". The Post and Courier. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  12. ↑ Drerup, Kat (2014-01-22). "Course Profile: Gender Issues and the Law". Charleston School of Law. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  13. ↑ "2:14-cv-04010 #37 South Carolina Order Condon v. Haley et al".
  14. ↑ Marsocci, Jeffrey G. (February 25, 2009). "LGBT College Student Achieves Two Political Firsts". Rainbow Legal Talk. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 Burger, Ken (Jan 25, 2009). "The Future of Politics in America". The Post and Courier. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  16. 1 2 "C of C student runs for local seat". Giant Hawk Media/The Digitel. November 4, 2008. Archived from the original on 29 January 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  17. ↑ Courrégé, Diette (Dec 13, 2014). "Questions on election results involve downtown constituent school board". The Post and Courier. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  18. ↑ Courrégé, Diette (Dec 14, 2008). "Board in flux over write-ins". The Post and Courier.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  19. ↑ Haire, Chris (March 4, 2009). "Best Display of Gumption by a 20-something". Charleston City Paper. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  20. ↑ Hambrick, Greg (6 May 2009). "Local Nick Shalosky Makes Advocate's 40 Under 40 List". Charleston City Paper. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  21. ↑ "Gay Politics Report". Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute. May 8, 2009. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
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