COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina’s 2014 election ballot was finalized Sunday with Gov. Nikki Haley and the state’s two incumbent U.S. senators facing June primary opposition, a big-name race for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor and a lengthy list of candidates vying to head the state Education Department.
Former state Rep. Tom Ervin, an attorney from Greenville and former circuit court judge will face Haley, the state’s first woman governor who is seeking a second term, in the June 10 GOP primary. If nominated, Haley would again face Democratic state Sen. Vincent Sheheen, who has no primary opposition, in November. Haley won by 4.5 percentage points four years ago.
Libertarian Steve French Jr. and Morgan Bruce Reeves of the United Citizens Party are also running.
Former Attorney General Henry McMaster, a Republican who unsuccessfully ran against Haley in 2010, is seeking the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor as is Mike Campbell, the younger son of the popular late Gov. Carroll Campbell. Pat McKinney, who helped develop Kiawah Island, and retired Army chaplain Ray Moore are also in the race. Four-term state Rep. Bakari Sellers of Denmark is the only Democrat in the field.
Lt. Gov. Glenn McConnell, recently named the new president of the College of Charleston, is not seeking re-election.
The crowded field seeking to wrest the GOP nomination from incumbent U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham is also set. He faces six Republican primary opponents in June primary, most of them saying the state needs a more conservative senator.
The GOP field includes Roebuck state Sen. Lee Bright, Anderson businessman Richard Cash and Orangeburg attorney Bill Connor as well as Nancy Mace, the first woman to graduate as a cadet from The Citadel. Columbia pastor Det Bowers and Columbia attorney Benjamin Dunn round out the GOP field.
Late last week state Sen. Brad Hutto, an Orangeburg attorney, got into the race on the Democratic side and faces Columbia businessman Jay Stamper in the primary. A recent Winthrop University poll showed Graham with a large lead, but not quite 50 percent. He has more than $7.5 million in his campaign accounts.
South Carolina is electing two U.S. senators this year as Republican Tim Scott, appointed after Jim DeMint resigned in 2012, runs to serve the remainder of DeMint’s term. Scott faces Randall Young of Greenville in the primary. There is a three-way Democratic primary for Scott’s seat. York County councilman Sidney Moore and Richland County Councilwoman Joyce Dickerson are running as is Harry Pavilack of Myrtle Beach.
Eight Republicans and four Democrats are running for Superintendent of Education after incumbent Republican Mick Zais decided not to seek re-election.
The Republicans include Sally Atwater, the widow of national campaign strategist Lee Atwater, who ran winning campaigns for Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, who has endorsed her in the race. The director of the state Association of School Administrators, Molly Spearman, is also running as are Zais’ former deputy superintendent Charmeka Childs, Lexington attorney Amy Cofield and Republican activist Sheri Few of Lugoff. Don Jordan, a University of South Carolina professor, and Charleston County school board member Elizabeth Moffly round out the GOP field.
The field seeking the Democratic nomination became more crowded on Sunday as two more candidates filed.
Tom Thompson of Forest Acres is the dean of the School of Graduate Studies at South Carolina State University while state Rep. Jerry Govan of Orangeburg also filed. They join Montrio Belton of Fort Mill, who worked under Zais, and Sheila Gallagher, a former teacher and Florence County Democratic Party chairwoman, in the Democratic primary.
Incumbent Republican Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom is opposed in the primary by Robert Shelley of Myrtle Beach while incumbent GOP Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Bob Livingston, seeking a second term, is being challenged by James “Will” Breazeale a veteran and commercial pilot, in the Republican primary.
Republican Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers faces a primary challenge from Joe Farmer of Greenville and GOP Treasurer Curtis Loftis faces Brian Adams of Spartanburg in the primary.
Two of the state’s seven U.S. House members also face primary opposition.
U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, who represents the 2nd District in the Midlands, is being challenged by Eddie McCain Jr, who has previously run against Wilson as a Libertarian. The Democratic primary in the district pits Phil Black of Lexington County, who has previously run as a Republican against Wilson, against Ed Greenleaf II of Columbia.
Jim Clyburn, the first black congressman elected in South Carolina since Reconstruction, faces a Democratic primary challenge in the 6th District from Karen Smith of Dorchester.
There’s a Democratic primary in the 3rd District for the seat of incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan. Barbara Jo Mullis, a retired teacher from Fair Play, faces Hosea Cleveland, an insurance agent from Seneca.
U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford, who last year defeated Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Bush in a race that attracted national attention in the 1st District, has neither primary nor general election opposition.
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