- BIG STORY: State encourages people to get vaccinations
- LOWCOUNTRY, Ariail: Bacteria beach
- BRACK: South Carolina’s presidential ride to get wilder
- MYSTERY PHOTO: Football stadium
- FEEDBACK: Send us your thoughts
State encourages people to get vaccinations
If you or your children haven’t ever had a vaccination for preventable diseases like measles, it’s time to consider it, state officials say.
On Wednesday, the S.C. Department of Public Health confirmed the state’s first case of measles since September 2024. Also this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the nation has its highest number of measles cases in 33 years.
“Measles is highly contagious and a serious disease caused by a virus that affects the respiratory tract. This virus spreads quickly, which is why we must act now to prevent its spread,” said Dr. Linda Bell, the state epidemiologist.
According to health officials, an Upstate resident reportedly was exposed to measles during an international trip. The person is currently isolated at home to prevent the spread of the virus. The person was unvaccinated and did not have immunity from a previous measles infection.
Having measles can lead to hospitalization and even death, officials said. Initial symptoms include fever, cough and a runny nose, followed by a rash which usually lasts five or six days. The best way to avoid infection is to get vaccinated, the agency said. The measles vaccine is more than 97% effective.
Officials described measles as being eliminated more than 25 years ago. But these days as anti-vaccination advocates have rallied against vaccinations for preventable diseases, vaccination numbers are down and measles cases are rising, particularly in Texas.
“It is proven that the best way to prevent measles is by vaccination,” Bell said. “I strongly encourage everyone to review their immunization records to make sure they are up to date on all vaccinations and to talk with their health care provider about the benefits and risks of getting vaccinated.”
According to the CDC, “every vaccine helps the body’s immune system learn how to fight germs. It typically takes a few weeks for protection to develop after vaccination, but that protection can last a lifetime,” other than for seasonal vaccines for flu or Covid-19, which may require annual boosters.
“It is always better to prevent a disease than to treat one after it occurs,” the agency said. “Vaccination is a safe, highly effective, and easy way to help keep your family healthy.” More info.
Time to check your voter registration
State officials have marked nearly 170,000 South Carolina voters as “inactive” on the state’s voter rolls after they failed to verify their registration information.
The State Election Commission (SEC) mailed address confirmation cards in April to more than 191,000 registered voters who had not voted or updated their registrations since 2020. The group represents about 5% of the state’s nearly 3.5 million registered voters.
Voters were asked to confirm their address on the cards and mail them back to the SEC office within 90 days. Only about 23,000 did.
“The business of running elections doesn’t end on Election Day,” SEC Executive Director Howie Knapp, said in a WCBD TV report. He went on to say that the process of marking voters as “inactive” was a “critical tool” to ensure accurate and up-to-date voter rolls.
“It’s one of the many ways we safeguard the integrity of our elections and ensure every eligible South Carolinian can vote with confidence,” he added.
Inactive voters are still eligible to vote, but they must reconfirm their address before participating in future elections. Inactive voters remain on the list for two general election cycles before being removed.
The next statewide elections in South Carolina are in November 2026. You can verify that your registration is up to date on scvotes.gov. – Skyler Baldwin
In other headlines this week
State Education Department seeks financial control of Marlboro School District. S.C. Superintendent Ellen Weaver said the Department of Education wants to take over the financial operations of the Marlboro County School District, citing the district’s failure to meet its fiscal responsibilities and provide a stable operational plan for the 2025-26 school year.
At least $84M for S.C. schools tied up in Trump funding freeze. School districts in South Carolina could miss out on millions of dollars that were expected to come from the federal government this year.
S.C. second in nation for risk of meat contamination, report says. According to a report from Trace One, a regulatory compliance software company for the food and beverage sector, South Carolina has the nation’s second-highest risk index of contamination, 67.85, only beaten by Georgia, which has a risk index of 69.05. A higher score indicates greater contamination risk.
S.C. hospitals stand to lose $2.4 billion in federal Medicaid assistance by 2043. South Carolina’s 60 general care hospitals will lose about $150 million per year over the next 15 years under new Medicaid rules signed into law by President Trump last week, according to a state hospital group. The cuts are seen as a major threat to cash-strapped rural hospitals across the state.
Infrastructure investments to generate $56 billion impact, study says. A study conducted by economists at the University of South Carolina, determined that infrastructure investments across South Carolina are expected to generate a $56.2 billion impact on the state’s economy over a seven-year period.
GOP senator launches bid for state attorney general. Republican Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, 43, is the first to officially enter the wide-open 2026 race to be South Carolina’s top prosecutor. The attorney general’s race is open for the first time in 16 years, as incumbent Alan Wilson, first elected in 2010, makes a bid for governor.
Former state legislator dies at 92. Former longtime Aiken County state lawmaker Roland Smith was laid to rest on Saturday, remembered by Gov. Henry McMaster for his “lifetime of service.”
State, utility leaders say S.C. heading toward ‘nuclear renaissance.’ McMaster recently compared South Carolina’s position in leading the way for a nuclear revival to the car in the poll position for the start of the Darlington 500 Race.
Charleston is no longer at the top of Best Cities list. For the first time in 13 years, Charleston dropped out of the travel magazine’s No. 1 spot, falling not one, but two spaces to third. Travel + Leisure readers voted Santa Fe as the top city in the U.S. this year, with New Orleans coming in second.
- Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
Bacteria beach
Award-winning cartoonist Robert Ariail has a special knack for poking a little fun in just the right way. This week, he takes on the state of some of South Carolina’s beaches during the summer.
- Love this week’s cartoon or hate it? Did he go too far, or not far enough? Send your thoughts to feedback@statehousereport.com.
South Carolina’s presidential ride to get wilder
By Andy Brack | What South Carolinians saw this week as Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom made a two-day swing through the state was more than a highly visible candidate who probably will run for president in 2028.
They saw a guy sweating through a white shirt in the South Carolina heat who was having fun.
Yep, he seemed to enjoy engaging with voters in rural places too often forgotten by many candidates — deeply red Upstate counties like Laurens, Oconee and Pickens as well as some blue Pee Dee places like Marion and Chesterfield counties.
“So many folks I talked to at his events had never met a governor before, not even our own governor here in South Carolina,” said state Rep. J.A. Moore, D-Charleston. “People will remember that he came to their communities, not in 2028, 2027 or even 2026 — but in 2025.”
Too many politicians these days seem to slog through interactions with voters as if it were a chore. Or they hold highly-scripted town halls that feel more like a corporate conference.
Years ago, U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings underscored the importance of getting out of the office by ensuring that he visited each of the state’s 46 counties each year. One week might find him walking through courthouses, stopping by small radio stations and having mostly impromptu lunches at local meat-and-three restaurants. Others might find coffee visits in diners and other places to practice the age-old art of retail politics.
The point was to connect with people and learn. That’s what Newsom seemed to enjoy this week as he dove into red areas from which too many of today’s leaders flee.
“American citizens feel like they’re being hunted, racially profiled,” Newsom said in a Marion County coffee shop, referring to recent immigration raids in Los Angeles. “That’s why I’m here — we cannot afford to allow this to happen.”
Throughout his visits, people responded, packing events coordinated by the state Democratic Party and saying how they enjoyed listening to him speak his mind.
“Governor Newsom leads the largest economy in America and the fourth largest in the world, and he’s coming to meet folks in towns that have been hollowed out by decades of Republican control,” state party chair Christale Spain said ahead of the politicking. “This is about building partnerships, uplifting communities, and showing rural voters they aren’t forgotten.”
It was clear that the stump tour got under the skin of state Republicans like Attorney General Alan Wilson, now a candidate for governor in 2026, and U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, who is looking at running for governor.
“We’ve seen what his leadership looks like: sky-high crime, gas prices, taxes and homelessness,” Wilson tweeted.
Newsom responded tersely, “Your homicide rate is literally DOUBLE California’s.”
And Mace screeched, “Don’t California my South Carolina” in a post calling on Newsom to debate.
He replied: “So you don’t want: lower homicide rates, lower gun death rates, lower taxes for working families, lower maternal mortality rates, higher GDP, higher wages, higher life expectancy, free pre-kindergarten, free community college, free school meals and total domination in every major industry. Time for a bathroom break, Nance.”
All of it has got to make you laugh a little. And what voters saw during his visits was somebody who isn’t afraid of the Republican claptrap we’ve been hearing for far too long in South Carolina.
S.C. Sen. Ed Sutton, D-Charleston, said Newsom’s visits to rural counties was smart politics and good leadership.
“When we don’t show up, that space gets filled with the cable news fear-mongering,” he told Statehouse Report. “South Carolina Democrats are the ones fighting to preserve rural hospitals, defend public education and push back against tariffs that raise the cost of everyday goods.
“Newsom’s tour helps remind voters of that and reaffirms that no community should be written
off or forgotten.”
Even though it’s more than three years before the next presidential election, South Carolina’s important early primary is just 30 months or so away. That means more national candidates interested in the White House will be streaming through, such as U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear next week.
Strap in. The ride is going to get wilder.
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.
Football stadium
Here’s a football stadium somewhere in South Carolina. Where? If you have a good mystery stumper to share with fellow readers, send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
Last week’s Mystery Photo, “House and tree,” showed the Aiken County house at Redcliffe Plantation State Historic Site, which reader Teresa Harper of Aiken reminded us once was owned by the state’s 60th governor, James Henry Hammond. “He was a staunch defender of slavery.”
Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas, shared that Hammond considered himself a modern Caesar: “Hammond was one of South Carolina’s largest slaveholders before the Civil War and by 1860, he controlled over 14,000 acres of land and had more than 300 enslaved people, with 80 of them working at the Redcliffe Plantation. Hammond even considered himself to be a ‘modern Caesar,’ and was heard referring to himself as a ‘Patrician,’ echoing the terminology used when referring to nobility in the Roman Empire. He even had a marble bust of himself installed in the main library, standing between busts of Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar, clearly aligning himself with two of the most iconic rulers in Western history.”
Others who recognized the house were: David Lupo of Mount Pleasant; Jay Altman of Columbia; Will Williams of Aiken; and George Graf of Palmyra, Va.
Send us your thoughts
Please send us your thoughts about politics and policy in South Carolina, but make sure to leave phone numbers and hometowns to help us verify them for publication. We publish non-defamatory comments, but unless you provide your contact information – name and hometown, plus a phone number used only by us for verification – we can’t publish your views.
- Have a comment? Send your letters or comments to: feedback@statehousereport.com. Make sure to provide your contact details (name, hometown and phone number for verification. Letters are limited to 150 words.
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
Donate today
We’re proud to offer Statehouse Report for free. For more than a dozen years, we’ve been the go-to place for insightful independent policy and political news and views in the Palmetto State. And we love it as much as you do.
But now, we can use your help. If you’ve been thinking of contributing to Statehouse Report over the years, now would be a great time to contribute as we deal with the crisis. In advance, thank you.
More
- Mailing address: Send inquiries by mail to: P.O. Box 21942, Charleston, SC 29413
- Subscriptions are free: Click to subscribe.
- We hope you’ll keep receiving the great news and information from Statehouse Report, but if you need to unsubscribe, go to the bottom of the weekly email issue and follow the instructions.
- Read our sister publication: Charleston City Paper (every Friday in print; Every day online)
- © 2025, Statehouse Report, a publication of City Paper Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved.
###
