Meet our Second Vice Chair
Dr. Ernest Mackins
Dr. Ernest Mackins is a kind and hard-working teacher with over 21 years of experience who believes that we must prioritize the American Dream for future generations and help those in need, like our homeless. We as a county need leadership to focus on making our public services like roads, education, and law enforcement the best they can be to serve our community. We need to deal directly with kitchen table issues like lowering grocery prices and helping everyone earn a decent income to prosper and care for their families. He believes we need more honesty and transparency in all levels of politics, because whether we like it or not, politics now affects everything and everyone.
When it comes to his priority of saving the American Dream for the kids he teaches, he leads by example. Dr. Mackins has dedicated himself to lifelong learning and giving back to our community by expanding his own education to accomplish that goal. Dr. Mackins has earned eight different degrees, including two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s from Clemson University, a master’s from Furman University, a Master of Divinity from Liberty University Theological Seminary, and his Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Converse University. He is always working to learn new ways to excite and motivate the kids to achieve more. He has taught in Pendleton and Belton-Honea Path and is currently the Co-Chair of the Career and Technical Education (CTE) at Berea High School. He is most proud of helping each student develop critical thinking skills to understand the world around them and hopes the example he sets is the stepping stone to each of them achieving greater things.
Dr. Mackins also served in the US Army for nine years and is a member and officer of the local VFW chapter. He is a Senior Pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Anderson. In addition to holding the current ACDP 2nd Vice Chair of the Anderson Democratic Party (ACDP), he is the 1st Vice Chair of the SCDP Council of Black Democrats (COBD) for South Carolina.
Dr. Mackins has happily been married to his wonderful wife, Erica, for 24 years. They have two sons, 22 and 17. Erica and his sons have been the foundation that motivates and grounds him to excel as a leader in our community.