‘A real choice’: Democrats celebrate full slate of candidates for SC ballots

COLUMBIA — Democrats celebrated Tuesday having at least one candidate running for all of South Carolina’s constitutional offices for the first time in 32 years.

“In November, voters across South Carolina will have a real choice: not a default, not a rubber stamp, but a choice,” state Democratic Party Chair Christale Spain told reporters at the party’s Columbia headquarters.

The party also has at least one candidate for every state House seat, which Spain said hasn’t happened in over 50 years. She credited that to the party’s work with local county chairs and its “buddy system” for ensuring prospective candidates filed their paperwork.

Opposition to President Donald Trump motivated people to seek office for the first time, said former Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison, who previously led the state party.

In response, state GOP Chairman Drew McKissick said that doesn’t mean Democrats will win in South Carolina this November.

“Having more Democrat candidates tell more voters about the radical agenda they support is just another way of saying more Democrats will lose elections this fall,” he said in a statement to the SC Daily Gazette.

Former Gov. Sanford seeks seat back; former state Democratic Party chair runs for SC treasurer

Back in January, Democrats had announced bids for only two elected constitutional offices: governor and state superintendent of education.

Attorney geneeral

Candidates for statewide office who turned in their paperwork in the last few days of the filing period include Richard Hricik, the only Democrat running for attorney general.

As of Tuesday, the Charleston personal injury attorney did not appear to have a campaign website and did not respond to email, phone, and text requests over several days from the Gazette.

This isn’t his first campaign. In 2020, he ran against long-time state Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Isle of Palms, and lost by more than 12 percentage points.

In November, he will face the winner of a three-way GOP primary: state Sen. Stephen Goldfinch of Murrells Inlet; Solicitor David Pascoe, chief prosecutor for Calhoun, Dorchester and Orangeburg counties; and Solicitor David Stumbo, the chief prosecutor for Abbeville, Greenwood, Newberry and Laurens counties.

Pascoe was elected the First Circuit solicitor as a Democrat for two decades. He switched parties last April, four months before launching his attorney general bid.

Democrats running for secretary of state and comptroller general also filed shortly before Monday’s filing deadline.

Secretary of state

Two Democrats are vying for the nomination to challenge Secretary of State Mark Hammond, who has no GOP opponent. First elected in 2002, Hammond is seeking a seventh term.

The secretary of state’s office is where businesses, corporations, and charities file their paperwork. It regulates professional fundraisers and nonprofit raffles, which became legal in South Carolina in 2015 after voters approved a constitutional change. It also annually puts out an “angels” list recognizing charities that spend the bulk of donations on their mission. Unlike in other states, the office plays no role whatsoever in elections.

Democrats seeking the job are Jason Belton, of Blythewood, and Edwina Winter, who did not give an address on her filing paperwork.

“I believe this state deserves a government that answers to the people and not to power,” Winter, an immigrant from the United Kingdom, told the crowd at the No Kings rally on Statehouse grounds last Saturday. She was among more than two dozen Democratic and independent candidates speaking at the event.

In a Facebook video announcing his bid, Belton began by declaring victory over drug trafficking allegations in a California case that became public in May 2022. The video includes screenshots of the media coverage, followed by a judge’s ruling dismissing the indictment.

“In our lives, we all face trials,” he says in the video. “I had challenges that people thought would define me, but today I stand before you victorious. This isn’t just a campaign, it’s a movement, a movement of reform, of relentless commitment to fight back for those who have oppressed all of our citizens of this great state.”

Comptroller general

Two Democrats filed Monday to run for comptroller general: Tiffany Boozer and Bruce K Cole, both of Columbia. They do not appear to have campaign websites or social media accounts yet.

The winner will face the only Republican running: Mike Burkhold, a Charleston County businessman who founded Equiscript, a health care technology company.

It’s the first time in 28 years that no incumbent is running for the job as the state’s chief accountant.

The office is open after Republican Richard Eckstrom, who held the office for more than 20 years, resigned in 2023 amid mounting pressure over his office’s $3.5 billion accounting error. (The error was strictly on paper. No money went missing.)

On Monday, Burkhold posted to Facebook that he was honored to be the Republican nominee.

“We need a financial watchdog, not a passive administrator,” he said in a written statement. “We need leadership that is willing to modernize systems, strengthen controls, and make every dollar visible.”