| Who will run against SC Gov. McMaster? 2022 race could see congressman, ex-opponent BY MAAYAN SCHECHTER JANUARY 26, 2021 05:00 AM COLUMBIA, S.C. The election for South Carolina’s next governor is roughly two years away, and a primary looms even closer.
And though two years from today feels like a long time, the names of who might and are likely to take on Republican Gov. Henry McMaster in 2022 are already popping up on social media, website domains and campaign accounts. From a former McMaster opponent to sitting elected officials, The State looks at the names of Democrats and Republicans who have risen to the surface as possible candidates for the top office.
REPUBLICANS Gov. Henry McMaster, 73
McMaster, of Columbia, will seek a second term in 2022.
The governor has more than $781,000 in campaign cash on hand, according to the latest January campaign filing.
A Republican Party fixture, McMaster won his first full term in office in 2018, fending off a challenger — John Warren — from the right and easily keeping the seat for Republicans against former state Democratic Rep. James Smith in the general election.
McMaster first became governor in 2017 after then-Gov. Nikki Haley resigned her seat to become former President Donald Trump’s U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. McMaster was the state’s lieutenant governor at the time.
In his 2018 campaign, McMaster pitched himself as the “jobs” governor, boasting the creation of thousands of South Carolina jobs and pushing for a retirement income tax cut for military veterans and first responders. His platform since has remained about the same, calling for traditional Republican priorities, including asking the Legislature to send him the “fetal heartbeat” abortion ban bill to sign.
This past year, however, has been dominated by the COVID-19 outbreak and, now, the urgency to get vaccines dispersed more quickly. In a recent campaign email, McMaster touted his work traveling to S.C. hospitals, urging them to speed up vaccination efforts.
“I look forward to the day when everyone who wants a vaccine can access one quickly and without a wait. Until then, I will continue pressing our officials and distributors to move swiftly towards this goal,” the campaign email said.
McMaster also was the first statewide official in the U.S. to endorse Trump’s unorthodox 2016 presidential bid.
That paid off when McMaster faced a tough GOP runoff two years later against Warren, and Trump campaigned for him. Whether Trump will return to South Carolina to help McMaster again remains to be seen.
John Warren, 41
Warren had little, if any, statewide name recognition when he entered the Republican primary scene in 2018.
At the time, the former Marine Corps captain owned Lima One Capital, a mortgage finance company based in Greenville. He took the stage against four other Republicans — including a former lieutenant governor and health director — all of whom were better known than he.
The Upstate businessman, who had never run for elected office before, found enough support and money — including more than $3 million of his own — to outlast his primary opponents, securing a runoff that June against McMaster.
It was not enough, and McMaster won with nearly 54% of the vote.
Warren — who sold his company after stepping down as CEO — told The State in 2019 he planned to run for elected office again but remained mum on what office that could be. Then last year, he launched a conservative PAC to help financially boost Republican candidates. He also has used the PAC to urge the Legislature to adopt stricter abortion measures and to elect conservative judges.
Last week, Warren told the Post and Courier, “I’m clearly not ruling it out,” when asked whether he would run against McMaster.
Shane Massey, 45
Senate Majority Leader Massey, of Edgefield, has not yet said publicly whether he plans to run for governor despite some buzz.
The Senate’s Republican leader, who has held office since 2007, declined to comment for this article.
But Massey, an attorney, has taken on larger roles since he was first elected the Republican leader in 2016 after now-Senate President Harvey Peeler stepped down. Massey’s election made him the youngest member to the post.
He was reelected by his colleagues — now a caucus of 30 — this month.
Massey has used his bully pulpit to go after leadership at the state’s public utility, Santee Cooper, and endorsed rule changes to make the budget process more transparent. He also took a leadership role as the state dealt with the fallout over the V.C. Summer nuclear plant.
Over the past year, he has been critical of the governor’s approach to the COVID-19 pandemic, more so recently concerning the slow-moving process of installing a new director at the state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control.
DEMOCRATS Joe Cunningham, 38
Cunningham has not been shy about the real possibility he might run for governor in 2022.
The one-term U.S. congressman from Charleston has not bowed to constant peppering about his future plans, but he clearly has his sights set on staying around government for years to come.
“I know this: I’m not done fighting for South Carolina. And after the events of the last week, I think every American has a responsibility to determine how they can be a part of the solution,” Cunningham told The State, referencing the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol by a violent mob. “Over the next few months, I’ll be doing just that.”
In 2018, Cunningham shocked South Carolina when he reclaimed the First District House seat for Democrats beating GOP challenger Katie Arrington. It was the first time a Democrat had held the seat since the 1980s.
Yet it was not enough for Cunningham to keep the seat for another term.
In November, former state Rep. Nancy Mace, of Daniel Island, won the seat back for Republicans by fewer than 6,000 votes, thanks in some part to a Republican surge credited to Trump’s popularity in the state.
Steve Benjamin, 51
For nearly two years, there have been whispers in capital city political circles that Columbia’s third-term mayor might make a run for the governor’s office in 2022. Considering Benjamin’s standing as a popular city leader — he didn’t even draw a challenger in his last reelection effort — with a national Democratic profile, a gubernatorial bid seems well within the realm of possibility.
In a recent conversation with The State, however, Benjamin remained noncommittal.
“I am only focused on serving the people of Columbia and keeping my family safe and healthy as we face these historic public health and economic challenges,” Benjamin said.
In the final year of Benjamin’s current mayoral term, he hasn’t yet announced plans on seeking reelection.
As the leader of the capital city, he has more statewide visibility than perhaps any other mayor in South Carolina. And he’s used to breaking historic barriers, as he’s the first Black person ever to be elected mayor of Columbia.
South Carolina has never had a Black governor.
Benjamin also has enjoyed the national spotlight. He’s a former president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, a nonpartisan group of mayors that advocate on behalf of cities nationwide. He also recently was tapped as the national co-chair Center of U.S. Global Leadership Board, the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition’s education arm. He is the first sitting mayor to lead that board.
And Benjamin, an attorney, has been a figure in national Democratic politics. In 2016, he gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention. Also in 2016, a WikiLeaks hack of Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager’s email showed Benjamin was on a ”first cut” list of possible vice presidential candidates that year.
Benjamin and McMaster have faced off in a statewide race in the past.
In 2002, they ran against each other for state attorney general. McMaster won that showdown by 11 percentage points.
STATUS: CONSIDERING ▪ State Sen. Marlon Kimpson, D-Charleston: The senator and attorney told The State he is keeping open the possibility of a run but has not made any official announcement on whether he’ll jump into the race. Kimpson was first elected to the Senate in 2013, filling the unexpired term of former Sen. Robert Ford after his resignation from office.
▪ State Sen. Mia McLeod, D-Columbia: One of five women in the Senate, McLeod was first elected to the House in 2010, where she served until 2016, when she was elected in Senate District 22. McLeod runs McLeod Butler Communications. She told The State she is considering running in light of the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
▪ Florence attorney Marguerite Willis: Willis told The State she has not decided whether yet to run again. Willis ran for governor in 2018 but lost in a three-way primary to former state Rep. James Smith. Willis has stayed active in Democratic politics since.
▪ Former state Rep. Mandy Powers Norrell: The Lancaster County Democrat lost her House seat in November. She was first elected to the House in 2012. In 2018, she joined former Rep. Smith’s gubernatorial ticket as his lieutenant governor candidate.
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