× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Enjoy more articles by logging in or creating a free account. No credit card required. Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

In the closing days of the Republican presidential primary, the image that dominated S.C. media was Tim Scott and Nikki Haley campaigning with Marco Rubio.

An African-American Republican U.S. senator and a first-generation female Indian American governor endorsing a first generation Cuban America running for president of the United States. The average age of the trio is 46.

Welcome to the new South Carolina.

This vivid image of the changing of the guard in S.C. Republican politics is just the latest and perhaps the most graphic manifestation of the new South Carolina that is being born. This is not the time or space for an in-depth chronicling of this transformation but the drivers of this new South Carolina are new people, new ideas and a new economy.

Today, our state has the second fastest rate of in-migration of any of the 50 states. Folks from all over have found out what we natives have known for a long time: This is a truly great place to live. With these people have come new ideas; some good, some bad but most of all new. We as a state are learning to sift through all this and figure out what to accept and what to reject. But, one thing is for sure, this is all about new challenges to our traditional ways of thinking.