Addison “Joe” Graves Wilson was born on July 31, 1947, in Charleston, South Carolina. After graduating from the High School of Charleston in 1965, he received his undergraduate degree from Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, and completed his law degree at the University of South Carolina. A real estate attorney by trade, Joe was a founding partner of the West Columbia law firm Kirkland, Wilson, Moore, Taylor & Thomas.
His career in public service officially began when he served on the staffs of South Carolina legends Senator Strom Thurmond and Congressman Floyd Spence. As part of the visionary Ronald Reagan administration, Joe was Deputy General Counsel to the United States Department of Energy Secretary and former South Carolina Governor, Jim Edwards.
I am committed to strengthening America’s education system. Since coming to Congress, I have fought to advance fiscally responsible reforms to improve educational opportunities from pre-K early childhood education through higher education and beyond.
Every child is unique, which is why I support school choice and local governance of schools. Over the past few years, unnecessary federal regulations have made it much harder for teachers to offer their students an education that is tailored to their needs. I support returning responsibility back to the states, locally elected school boards, administrators, and professional classroom educators, who best know what it takes to provide quality education to our children. It is the responsibility of Congress to work with these entities and not Washington bureaucrats, to support their needs and ensure that students in the Second Congressional District receive the highest quality education.