Hi, I’m Francie.

Francie Kleckley is a career civil servant, a former U.S. Treasury official, and a first-time citizen candidate running for the South Carolina Senate to deliver for the working families of District 10, defend their fundamental freedoms, and defeat the politics of division and extremism that have corrupted our General Assembly in Columbia.

The only child of a working-class family in rural Marlboro County, Francie learned about the importance of fiscal responsibility, the power of educational opportunity, and the resilience of small business from her parents. Gordon, Francie’s father, worked as a general manager at the local Pepsi-Cola plant and operated a handful of coin laundromats to supplement his income. Lois, Francie’s mother, ran a yarn shop out of the dining room and kept the books for her husband’s businesses. It was a household founded on family values, hard work, and hope for brighter days ahead.

An ambitious student and a natural competitor, Francie briefly attended Clemson University before transferring on a tennis scholarship to Francis Marion University, where she served as president of the Panhellenic Council and became a first-generation college graduate. Over the summers, she interned at the U.S. Small Business Administration and volunteered as a swim instructor at a camp for children with learning disabilities and other special needs.

After graduation, Francie dedicated her life to public service in the U.S. Treasury Department. Over the course of her distinguished 36-year career in Lexington County, she helped bring small businesses into compliance with complicated tax obligations, supported working families navigating the federal bureaucracy, and solved systemic issues related to taxpayer rights and taxpayer burden nationwide. Meanwhile, she battled gender discrimination within the department’s ranks and managed the demands of being a single, working mother to her two beautiful children, Allen and Kathryn. 

Allen, who graduated from Lexington High School and the Culinary Institute of Charleston at Trident Technical College, works as a property manager and is an avid hunter, shrimper, and outdoorsman in the South Carolina Lowcountry. He and his daughter, Collins, are the joys of Francie’s life. Kathryn, an alumna of Presbyterian College, tragically passed away from a breast cancer-related illness at the age of 36. Francie misses her every single day.

Francie still lives in Lexington County with her beloved partner, Nekki, and continues to serve her community on the boards of numerous nonprofit organizations. Now, Francie wants to bring her decades of government experience and economic savvy to the state Senate — where the working families of District 10 can count on her to champion fiscal responsibility, protect reproductive rights, and carve out a brighter future for future generations of South Carolinians.