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Incumbent Gov. Henry McMaster is seeking his second full term as governor. He is being challenged in the Republican primary by Harrison Musselwhite. Five candidates, meanwhile, appear on the Democratic primary ballot in the governor’s race. Former First District Congressman Joe Cunningham, State Sen. Mia McLeod, health care advocate Carlton Boyd, Calvin McMillan and William H. Williams are hoping to take on the Republican winner.
No Democrat has captured South Carolina’s top office in 20 years
In the Lowcountry, voters in the First Congressional District will select between incumbent Rep. Nancy Mace and former State Rep. Katie Arrington on the Republican side. The winner of that race will face Democrat Dr. Annie Andrews in November. (click here for more related content)
In the Sixth Congressional District, incumbent Jim Clyburn faces challenges from fellow Democrats Michael Addison and Gregg Marcel Dixon, while on the Republican side, candidates Duke Buckner and Sonia Morris hope to win the primary and take on the Democratic challenger.
Nine candidates are running to be South Carolina’s next state school superintendent to fill the seat being vacated by Molly Spearman who decided against running for re-election.
Six Republican candidates appear on the ballot: Travis Bedson, Bryan Chapman, Kizzi Gibson, Lynda Leventis-Wells, Kathy Maness and Ellen Weaver. The winner of the Republican primary will face the winner of the Democratic primary, in which Gary Burgess, Lisa Ellis and Jovan Govan appear on that ballot.
Attorney General Alan Wilson, Secretary of State Mark Hammond and Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers also have challengers in the Republican primary.
In all 46 counties, Republican primary voters face ‘advisory questions’ on ballot as well.
The questions are:
-Should people have the right to register with the political party of their choice when they register to vote?
-Should candidates for local school boards be able to run as a candidate for the political party of their choice, just likes candidates for other elected offices?
-In a situation where there is more than one person responsible for damages in a lawsuit, do you support changing South Carolina law so that each person should pay damages based on that person’s actual share of fault?
South Carolina Republican Party Chair Drew McKissick said the primaries give them an opportunity to gauge Republican voters’ perspectives and opinions on key issues. Specifically on issues they expect, to some degree, will be taken up in the legislature next year.
More than 100K in SC voted early
The South Carolina State Election Commission reported 100,450 voters took advantage of the new option.
Horry County had the highest number of early voters with 11,618, followed by Richland County’s 9,346; Beaufort County’s 7,858; Charleston County’s 6,464 and Berkeley County’s 5,323.
The state’s new election law replaced the old in-person absentee voting with the early voting period. The new option did not require voters to provide an excuse for why they wanted to vote ahead of the actual election day.
The number of South Carolinians casting their ballots in person rose every day of the two-week, statewide early voting period, with the 21,303 people voting on last Friday’s final day more than triple the first day’s total of 6,032.
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