CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - Two of South Carolina’s incumbent congressmen face challenges in next month’s party primaries. But considering the money Republican Joe Wilson and Democrat Jim Clyburn have in the bank - and how little their opponents have - neither seems to be in danger.
Candidates are only required to file spending reports with the Federal Election Commission if they have raised or spent at least $5,000. And only one candidate in addition to the incumbents has filed.
A look at the congressional nominations voters will decide in the June 10th primaries:
2nd District Republican Primary
- Wilson, who has almost $270,000 in the bank and was first elected in 2001, faces Eddie McCain, who has previously run against Wilson as a libertarian. McCain, from Batesburg-Leesville, is retired after serving 20 years in the Army as a noncommissioned officer. The predominantly Republican 2nd District reaches from Columbia southwest to the Savannah River in the Aiken area.
2nd District Democratic Primary
- The race for the Democratic nomination pits Ed Greenleaf against Phil Black. Greenleaf, of Columbia, retired last year after a 27-year career with BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina. Black is from the Lake Murray area of Lexington County and is retired from the federal Small Business Administration. Filings with the Federal Election Commission show that Greenleaf has $4,500 in the bank for the campaign.
3rd District Democratic Primary
- Two Democrats are vying for the party nomination to face incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan in the 3rd District along the Savannah River in the northwestern corner of the state. Barbara Jo Mullis is a retired teacher from Townville. She faces Hosea Cleveland, who owns an insurance agency in Seneca.
6th District Democratic Primary
- Clyburn, the first black elected to Congress from South Carolina since Reconstruction and the dean of the state’s congressional delegation, is seeking a 12th term in the state’s black majority district. Clyburn has a campaign war chest of almost $1.3 million according to the latest filings with the Federal Election Commission. He faces a primary challenge from Karen Smith, a housewife from the hamlet of Dorchester. She describes herself as a tea party supporter and has voted in Republican primaries in recent years. The district stretches along the Interstate 95 corridor through the eastern part of the state and into Charleston and Columbia.
- 6th District Republican Primary
Republicans Leon Winn and Anthony Culler are vying for the GOP nomination to oppose Clyburn in the fall. Winn, a black Republican, has worked as a machinist, owned several beauty salons and is the pastor of Rock Hill Baptist Church in Manning. Culler is a banker from Kingstree.
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