South Carolina primary ballots set; election is June 9

Of the 91 people who filed to run for a county, state or federal seat in this year’s general election, 47 will be on one of two primary ballots in June.

Statewide primary elections will be held Tuesday, June 9, as candidates seek their party’s nomination for the general election, a presidential midterm year, on Nov. 3.

South Carolina is an open primary state, which means you do not have to declare a party and can choose which party’s ballot to cast. When runoffs are needed, voters who cast that party’s ballot can participate, as well as registered voters who did not cast any primary ballot. For example, if you voted in the Republican primary, you could vote in any Republican runoff, but you could not vote in a Democratic runoff. If you did not vote in the original primary, you could choose any party’s runoff.

The Democratic primary will feature six races that will be on everyone’s ballots, including candidates vying for state comptroller general, governor and lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state superintendent of education, state treasurer and a U.S. Senate seat. Some voters in Sumter will also decide their choice for state House of Representatives District 51 and Sumter County Council District 6, while some in Sumter and Lee counties will vote for U.S. House of Representatives District 5, and some in Sumter and Clarendon counties will vote for U.S. House of Representatives District 6.

On the Republican ballot, four races will be on everyone’s ballot, including those for state attorney general, state commissioner of agriculture, governor and lieutenant governor, and U.S. Senate. In addition, some voters in Sumter and Clarendon counties will vote for their choice for U.S. House of Representatives District 6.

Two Libertarians are vying for the U.S. Senate seat.

Looking ahead to November, the candidate who secures the Democratic nomination for the U.S. House District 51 seat and the Sumter County Council District 6 seat will almost certainly win the position in the general election because there are no Republicans or candidate in other parties running. Write-ins are allowed on South Carolina ballots. All other primary winners will face opposition in November. 

There are 44 candidates who are unopposed in their own party in June. 

In November, there will also be general municipal elections for Sumter and Pinewood.

The Item reached out to candidates with Q&As about their platforms, experience and ideas, and the responses in The Sumter Item Impact are the ones we received by the deadline we set for all candidates.

CANDIDATES RUNNING OPPOSED  IN THEIR PARTY PRIMARY
DEMOCRATS
Comptroller General
- Tiffany Boozer
- Bruce K. Cole

Governor and Lieutenant Governor
- Jermaine Johnson
- Mullins McLeod*
- Billy Webster

Secretary of State
- Jason Belton**
- Edwina Winter

State House of Representatives, District 5
- David Weeks*
- Melissa J. Weeks Richardson

State Superintendent of Education
- Lisa Ellis
- Sylvia Wright

State Treasurer
- Vincent Coe*
- Trav Robertson Jr.*

Sumter County Council, District 6
- Gloria Rose Lee
- James T. McCain Jr.

U.S. House of Representatives, District 5
- Andrew Clough
- Mallory Dittmer

U.S. House of Representatives, District 6
- James E. Jim Clyburn*
- Frederick R. Goodwin*

U.S. Senate
- Annie Andrews*
- Brandon P. Brown*
- Kyle Freeman*

REPUBLICANS
Attorney General
- Stephen Goldfinch
- David M. Pascoe*
- David Stumbo

Commissioner of Agriculture
- Jeremy B. Cannon*
- Danny Ford
- Cody Simpson*
- Fred West

Governor and Lieutenant Governor
- Jacqueline Hicks DuBose**
- Pamela Evette
- Joshua Kimbrell*
- Nancy Mace*
- Ralph W. Norman
- Rom Reddy
- Alan Wilson

U.S. House of Representatives, District 6
- John Peterson*
- Maurice Washington

U.S. Senate
- Calvin Cowen*
- Paul Dans*
- Thomas Keith Dismukes
- Lindsey Graham*
- Pat Herrmann
- Mark Lynch*
- Darius L. Mitchell*

LIBERTARIANS
U.S. Senate
- Jason Elliot Brenkus
- Kasie Whitener

* Did not respond to Q&A by deadline.
** Could not be reached.