EDITORIAL: Brace yourselves, South Carolina. Things could get ugly as candidates in key races head to runoffs.
McMaster, who skipped several debates leading up to the primary, shouldn't assume he is a shoo-in against a well-financed Warren.
In the end, having the backing of President Donald Trump wasn't enough to save incumbent Gov. Henry McMaster from a runoff in two weeks.
Greenville businessman John Warren's outsider status – he's never held public office – earned him Betsy Baumgardner's vote Tuesday. Voters like Baumgardner propelled Warren into a runoff with McMaster, the top vote-getter by a large margin.
Baumgardner said she was looking for someone "new and different."
"I'm just tired of the old guard in Columbia," she said. "Columbia's gone bad and I want to make a change."
The crowded Republican primary field made it difficult for McMaster to win outright, a fact that worked to Warren's advantage. A late push of campaign ads might have helped Warren edge out third-place finisher Catherine Templeton. And Templeton's controversial television ad, where she pretended to shoot a rattlesnake, likely backfired.
Kristen Vick, a Virginia native who now lives in Greenville, voted for Templeton because McMaster ran on an "I'm with Trump" platform. She cast her vote at Springfield Baptist Church on East McBee Avenue. After researching the candidates, she felt Templeton had the best shot against McMaster, who has been in South Carolina politics for decades.
Warren will have his work cut out for him in the next two weeks. In a speech to supporters Tuesday, he challenged McMaster to "come out of hiding" and face him in three debates, saying he wants the governor to answer tough questions about what he plans to do if re-elected.
McMaster, who skipped several debates leading up to the primary, shouldn't assume he is a shoo-in against a well-financed Warren. It's likely that the contest will get ugly, and Warren should prepare himself for incoming fire from both McMaster and Trump.
As expected, far fewer voters cast Democratic ballots in the primary. Columbia attorney James Smith won enough votes to win the primary outright, besting Greenville native and Florence attorney Marguerite Willis, and Phil Noble, a technology consultant from Charleston.
Gwendolyn Young cast her vote for Willis Tuesday, while expressing disappointment that the Democratic Party didn't do more to get voters out to the polls.
"We have a major political and social shift in our culture," she said, adding that it shouldn't be a foregone conclusion that Democrats aren't contenders in major races.
In the hotly contested race for the 4th Congressional District seat now held by Trey Gowdy, runoffs will decide the Republican and Democratic candidates who will advance to the general election.
Lee Bright and either William Timmons or Dan Hamilton will square off in the Republican runoff. Bright led all Republican candidates in the 4th District contest, but because the race for the second spot was so close there will be a recount. On the Democratic side, Brandon Brown and Doris Lee Turner will compete for the nomination.
The Greenville News will host two 4th Congressional District candidate forums to give voters a chance to hear from the top two vote-getters in each party's primary. The forum for the top two Democratic candidates will be held from 7-8 p.m. Wednesday, June 20, at the newspaper's offices at 32 E. Broad Street in downtown Greenville. The Republican candidate forum will be held on Thursday, June 21 at the same time and place.
Brace yourselves. Candidates in several key races will be campaigning hard to get you to return to the polls and cast your vote for them. The good news: There will be fewer contenders to sort through.