- BIG STORY: 2026 GOP gov’s primary is race to right
- MORE NEWS: 3 lawmakers resign from legislature
- LOWCOUNTRY, Ariail: Power line
- BRACK: Political crazy seems to be winning
- MYSTERY PHOTO: Too hot
- FEEDBACK: Send us your thoughts
2026 GOP gubernatorial primary is race to right
By Jack O’Toole, Capitol bureau | With five expected GOP candidates now in the 2026 gubernatorial race, South Carolina political observers say the party’s primary is already shaping up as a race to the right. Meanwhile, state Democrats are still trying to get their acts together.
According to Winthrop University political scientist Scott Huffmon, that’s because the state GOP has “evolved into a more activist-style” party since this century’s Tea Party era, when a wave of new voters got involved in Republican politics.
And that means this year’s GOP candidates — Greenville businesswoman and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, Spartanburg state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, First District U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, Fifth District U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman and S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson of Columbia — are all working to deliver a message that appeals to a highly engaged conservative electorate.
“They’re going to keep running further to the right and hitting all the hot-button issues,” Huffmon said this week.. “We’re going to hear DEI [diversity, equity, inclusion], we’re going to hear ‘woke,’ we’re going to hear about a tsunami of socialism coming in.”
Recent news reports suggest that dynamic is already starting to play out, with Mace’s use of a transgender slur at an Aug. 11 town hall, and Norman’s push to gerrymander the state’s only Democratic congressional district, long held by U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, out of existence.
But in addition to those kinds of candidate-specific issues, a review of the GOP contestants’ websites and public addresses shows all have chosen to spotlight three issues that speak directly to conservative voters — eliminating the state income tax, expanding the state’s school choice program and the “DOGE-ing” South Carolina. Here’s what you need to know on each.
1: Eliminate the state income tax
Since the days of President Ronald Reagan, few issues have set Republican primary voters’ hearts aflutter quite like income tax cuts.
But the devil is in the details – as GOP leaders in the S.C. legislature learned the hard way last session when their much-touted tax cut plan collapsed amid reports it would raise taxes on 60% of state residents.
“As with any policy,” University of South Carolina economist Joseph Von Nessen told Statehouse Report on Aug. 14, “there are going to be tradeoffs.”
On the positive side, Von Nessen said, eliminating the state income tax would likely lead to stronger small business formation.
“Small businesses often file taxes at the individual rate,” Von Nessen said. “So when the individual income tax is reduced, that can make South Carolina more competitive relative to other states.”
But the challenge, he noted, is making the math work.
“The tradeoff is that that lost revenue has to be addressed in some way, either by cutting spending or capturing new revenue.”
According to the S.C. Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office, income taxes will produce about $6.5 billion this year, or 45% of overall state revenue. That’s why experts say eliminating the income tax would likely force lawmakers to increase other taxes — possibly including the sales tax, which could wind up raising taxes for many, if not most, state residents. Several years ago, state lawmakers passed Act 388 which greatly limited another stream of revenue – property taxes – in favor of more sales taxes, which economists criticized then.
“Sales taxes tend to be more regressive than income taxes,” Von Nessen said. “Are we looking at changing the nature of that tax, and if so, would it make [overall taxes] more progressive or regressive?”
2. Universal school choice
Earlier this year, state lawmakers passed the state’s third school voucher program since 2020, after seeing the first two struck down by the S.C. Supreme Court. Under the new plan, 15,000 families would be eligible to receive up to $7,500 to send their children to the private school of their choice.
Sam Aaron, policy director of the right-leaning S.C. Policy Council, said a universal program would ensure that every child has an opportunity to attend a good school.
“School choice allows parents to pick an education plan that’s specifically beneficial to their child, as opposed to the one-size-fits-all approach of public school,” Aaron said. “And in areas where the public schools are struggling, it’s the only way to get a kid out of that system and into one that works for them.”
But other advocates, such as S.C. Education Association President Dena Renee Crews, argue that public dollars need to stay in public schools, particularly with underfunded systems already struggling with crumbling infrastructure, teacher shortages, and major technology challenges. Particularly hard hit by these issues, she noted, are rural school districts, five of which the state has taken over in recent years.
“We honor every parent’s right to do what they think is best for their child,” Crews said. “But when we take public dollars away from public schools, how do we expect any of those problems to get better?” she said.
3: DOGE South Carolina
With President Donald Trump still the top polling political leader in S.C., all five Republican candidates are promising to bring one of his signature initiatives — the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — to the Palmetto State.
Led early by tech billionaire Elon Musk, DOGE officials have claimed to have cut anywhere from $55 billion to $160 billion in federal spending, though independent budget analysts say the figure is closer to $1.5 billion.
Nevertheless, gubernatorial candidates like Evette say an S.C. version would be a useful tool to cut state spending.
“I’ll bring real-world accountability to Columbia by slashing wasteful spending, cutting red tape, and creating S.C.O.G.E – to ensure our government serves the people, not the bureaucracy,” Evette says on her website.
But other S.C. leaders who’ve studied the state’s budget process say that a DOGE effort would be duplicative at best.
“DOGE is just a talking point,” Charleston Democratic Sen. Ed Sutton said, name-checking the seven offices, agencies and committees that are already tasked with cutting waste. “I don’t see how an eighth committee is going to do what the seven others haven’t already accomplished.”
What’s more, he argues, the whole conversation is one that GOP candidates would be wise to avoid.
“Republicans have been in charge of state government for the past 20 years,” Sutton said. “So if there really is all this waste to find, that’s on them.”
- Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com
Three lawmakers resign from the S.C. legislature
By Jack O’Toole, Capitol bureau | In a series of moves that left the S.C. election commission scrambling to schedule special elections, three members of the state legislature resigned on Aug. 11.
The first to step down was embattled state Rep. R.J. May (R-Lexington), who is in jail awaiting trial on charges of possessing child sexual materials. In his resignation letter, May wrote, “It is in the best interests of my family and constituents to resign immediately.”
Next, 59-year-old S.C. Sen. Roger Nutt (R-Spartanburg) announced his resignation after receiving a diagnosis of having Alzheimer’s disease, saying in a statement that he and his family “will face this trial with faith in the grace of God that has sustained our lives, our marriage and my career in public service for nearly 15 years.”
And finally, later in the day, state Rep. Bobby Cox (R-SC) announced he was resigning to run for Nutt’s now-open Senate seat.
S.C. Election Commission spokesman John Catalano told Upstate broadcaster WSPA that the flurry of resignations took the agency by surprise.
“We have not had three resignations from the General Assembly in one day before, so [it] definitely raised some eyebrows,” he said. “[It was a] very interesting afternoon.”
Nevertheless, by midweek the commission had scheduled special elections in all three races, with winning candidates expected to be sworn in for the next Statehouse session in January 2026. For dates and details, visit the Election Commission website at scvotes.com.
In other recent news
2026: McLeod spurns Democratic calls to drop out of governor’s race.
Charleston lawyer Mullins McLeod is rejecting a state Democratic Party call to withdraw from the 2026 Democratic primary for governor, saying in a Wednesday statement that his campaign “continues to maintain its regular schedule of in-house events and planning sessions.” The calls to drop out followed the release of a police video on Aug. 12 showing McLeod shouting obscenely near his downtown home in May.
- Democrats call on McLeod to drop out
- McLeod becomes first Democrat to announce for governor
- GOP’s Evette says she’s ‘different’ from other gubernatorial candidates
New law to help S.C. students get free meals at school. If at least 25% of students in a district or school are determined to be living in poverty, the entire district or school can automatically receive free or reduced-cost school meals without families needing to fill out paperwork to sign their students up.
State House member pushes for Charleston Maritime Academy. S.C. Rep. Tom Hartnett, R-Charleston, is working to have the Palmetto State added to a list of six states that currently have maritime academies, which churns out officers for the United States Navy and a growing American merchant fleet.
S.C.-1: Daniel Island legislator enters race for S.C.’s 1st Congressional District. Republican State Rep. Mark Smith, 55, officially launched his bid to represent South Carolina’s coastal 1st Congressional District on Aug. 14. The seat opened up when incumbent U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace announced her 2026 campaign for governor.
Graham’s campaign stop in Spartanburg met with protests and hecklers. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s campaign stop at the Beacon Drive-in in Spartanburg was contentious at times, with hecklers shouting questions and interrupting what was otherwise a routine stump speech about his reelection bid and world politics.
S.C. tops in economic growth for 2025, federal study finds. A new federal report from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis finds South Carolina leading the nation in economic and personal income growth so far this year.
Remembering Joe Darby, a moral lion. “For the Rev. Joseph A. Darby, there wasn’t a lot of gray when it came to right and wrong. A voice of Charleston’s conscience, Darby died Aug. 8, just one day after his 74th birthday.”
- Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com
Power line
Award-winning cartoonist Robert Ariail has a special knack for poking a little fun in just the right way. This week, he takes on Santee Cooper’s proposal to build a power line through a special forest.
- Love this week’s cartoon or hate it? Did he go too far, or not far enough? Send your thoughts to feedback@statehousereport.com.
Political crazy seems to be winning
By Andy Brack | A drone’s view of what’s happening in the world today shows a South Carolina and United States caught between crazy and scary. We’re in a new political territory that seems to sink lower almost every day. Just look at this week’s scorecard:
Crazy #1: Congressman Ralph Norman, a newly minted Republican lemming for governor, revealed a shocking display of spectatorship, not leadership, with a lazy proposal calling for South Carolina to redistrict. In a state where at least 40% of voters cast ballots for people other than Republicans, the GOP already has six of seven congressional seats (86%). Manipulating one more would be ridiculous and discriminatory – and undermine democracy.
Crazy #2: Another Republican gubernatorial candidate, U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace of the Lowcountry, keeps yammering about anything under the sun to get noticed, proving the political adage that one of the most dangerous places in the country is between a craven politician and a television camera. In just the last few days, she’s spewed on about trying to ban child gender-related medical procedures (what is it with this obsession?) to politicizing the case of an abused dog to score points.
Crazy #3: Charleston attorney Mullins McLeod became the first Democrat to announce he was running for governor this week, only to find himself on the quick receiving end of a painfully negative story about a May arrest for disorderly conduct. Any politico with a lick of sense could see that the full story, only lightly reported before the campaign announcement, would expand when he entered the race. Worse: Upon a media request, police released a video that showed an unforgettable incoherent rant in the back of a cop car in which McLeod spewed all sorts of venom. Nevertheless, he says he was unlawfully arrested and he’s in the race, but he’ll have trouble wiggling out of what voters saw.
Crazy #4: That video spurred the state Democratic Party to do something not expected – to encourage McLeod to drop out of the governor’s race. While it’s understandable party leaders are embarrassed and irritated by the turn of events, actively getting involved in dissing a candidate is unorthodox, perhaps indicating they’re worried that voters might forgive and forget as they did when the nation elected a convicted felon to be president.
Crazy #5: R.J. May of Lexington County, a firebrand conservative Statehouse Republican indicted in June on 10 counts of distributing child sexual abuse material, finally resigned from his seat while sitting in jail. What is it with Republicans and sex? (Recall that Mace in February accused her ex-fiance and three other men of rape, sex trafficking and other sex crimes. The matter is mired in lawsuits.)
On top of all of this, the nation seems to be spiraling downward out of control – even though the stock market hasn’t (yet) tanked as many feared with the addition of punitive tariffs on foreign goods that are paid by American consumers.
- There’s a blatant power war by the GOP in Texas to redraw congressional maps to nab more U.S. House seats and a counter-offensive in California to keep that from happening.
- President Trump, being savaged by many in the MAGA world as well as liberals for whatever is damning in the Epstein files, is lobbing distractions hither and yon to shift America’s focus. Examples: a summit with Russian bromance partner Vladimir Putin on Ukraine and the completely feckless federalization of law enforcement in Washington, D.C. — the kind of action he didn’t take when a rabid coterie of 2,000 right-wing nutcases attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
- And then there’s U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s demoralizing anti-vaccine campaign that has already led to increases in measles cases and threatens to make America sicker in more ways than one.
South Carolina, like America, is sorely missing responsible, strong leadership with integrity. If people stay on their sofas and don’t stand up to stupid politics and neo-fascism, the days of the republic are numbered.
- Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report and the Charleston City Paper. His weekly column on politics has appeared in South Carolina media for more than 20 years. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
Too hot
Here’s a great weekly stumper that could be tough so we’ll give you a clue: It’s somewhere in peninsular Charleston. Where and what is it? Send your best guess to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
Last week’s mystery photo, “Interesting memorial,” is of a family tribute to a World War II veteran buried in a cemetery at the Salem United Methodist Church near Lamar in Florence County.
Longtime sleuth Bill Segars sent the photo noting, “the fact that a rural Florence County family would erect such a moment for a 20-year-young man who was killed in action … speaks volumes.” We agree.
Mystery photo aficionado Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas, tells us that the memorial is to Darlington County native Duncan Owen Lee, a U.S. Army soldier born in 1925 and killed near Forbach, France, in 1945.
“His death occurred during fierce fighting as Allied forces pushed through eastern France toward Germany in the final months of the war,” Peel wrote. “Initially, Lee was buried in the Epinal American Cemetery in France, one of many soldiers laid to rest near the battlefields where they fell.” His remains were returned to South Carolina in 1948 and he was buried among family members in the church cemetery.
Congratulations to others who identified the memorial to Lee, including David Lupo of Mount Pleasant; Larry Musetti of Charleston; Jay Altman of Columbia; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; and Mike Tucker of West Columbia.
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Statehouse Report, founded in 2001 as a weekly legislative forecast that informs readers about what is going to happen in South Carolina politics and policy, is provided by email to you at no charge every Friday.
- Editor and publisher: Andy Brack, 843.670.3996
- Statehouse bureau chief: Jack O’Toole
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