Here’s what the GOP’s Templeton has raised in bid to unseat SC Gov. Henry McMaster

Republican Catherine Templeton raised $721,000 during the last three months of 2017 in her bid to unseat S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster, surpassing the $602,874 she raised in the previous quarter.

Templeton’s fundraising performance shows her campaign’s “momentum,” spokesperson Mollie Young said Tuesday. “People are interested in her campaign and are ready for her to be governor.”

The Mount Pleasant attorney finished the year with $2.3 million in cash on hand to spend, Young said.

Templeton’s campaign provided only a few details of the fundraising report ahead of Wednesday’s filing deadline.

Thus far, Templeton, a member of then-Gov. Nikki Haley’s cabinet, has been considered the biggest threat to McMaster for the GOP nomination, keeping pace with the incumbent governor’s fundraising.

McMaster, however, had big help raising money in October when President Donald Trump headlined a $250-a-ticket fundraiser for the governor in Greenville. Trump’s stumping for the governor was seen as a way to thank McMaster for endorsing the Republican president before the state’s pivotal first-in-the-South presidential primary in 2016.

Two other Republicans, Lt. Gov. Kevin Bryant and former state senator and lieutenant governor Yancey McGill, also are seeking the GOP nomination.

Seeking the Democratic nomination for governor are state Rep. James Smith, D-Richland, and Charleston Democrat Phil Noble.

None of the other candidates had released any fund-raising numbers as of Tuesday.

This story was originally published January 9, 2018 at 11:32 AM with the headline "Here’s what the GOP’s Templeton has raised in bid to unseat SC Gov. Henry McMaster."