Can Clyburn, black SC leaders push James Smith to a governor's race victory?
He's the only Democrat running for S.C. governor who did not pick an African-American as his running mate in a state where black voters make up more than half of his party.
Yet state Rep. James Smith, D-Richland, carries the endorsement of the most powerful black Democrat in South Carolina and other African-American lawmakers.
"We're committed to this campaign," U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, South Carolina's senior member of Congress and third-ranking Democrat in the U.S. House, said Friday in Lancaster. Clyburn and state Reps. Terry Alexander of Florence and John King of York, also black Democrats, joined Smith to announce that his House colleague, state Rep. Mandy Powers Norrell, D-Lancaster, will run as his lieutenant governor.
With Friday's news, each Democrat running in the June 12 primary for governor has selected a running mate.
Florence attorney Marguerite Willis named state Sen. John Scott, D-Richland, as her running mate, and Charleston businessman Phil Noble announced his lieutenant governor pick is Gloria Bromell Tinubu, twice the Democratic nominee for South Carolina's 7th congressional district.
The November election is the first time candidates for S.C. governor and lieutenant governor will run on a joint ticket.
Running mates — in gubernatorial and presidential politics — can help candidates broaden their appeal by "bringing something to the ticket that (the candidates) don’t have," said Rick Whisonant, a York Technical College political scientist. Candidates can pick running mates for their experience, gender, geographic appeal or race.
For example, Noble and Willis, who are white, picked Tinubu and Scott, both African-American, as their running mates. Those picks could be an effort to win support from black voters, who made up more than half of ballots cast in the last Democratic presidential primary, according to exit polls.
African-American voters, particularly black women, are the drivers of the Democratic party, Whisonant said.
"The black community can never be taken for granted," he said. "They are looking for quality individuals that take a real realistic view of some very big issues. Of course, jobs, education and health care come in to play."
Powers Norrell is a well-respected Democrat from a rural community that picked President Donald Trump in 2016, but she also has received "tremendous support from the black community" there, Whisonant said.
A 44-year-old bankruptcy lawyer elected in 2012, Powers Norrell also is considered a rising star in the S.C. Democratic Party, picked in 2016 to deliver the Democrat's rebuttal to then-Gov. Nikki Haley's State of the State address.
On Friday, Clyburn, Alexander and King said Smith has the support from black voters he needs to triumph in June and beyond.
"We understand the importance of the black vote," said King, who chairs the S.C. Legislative Black Caucus.
Smith is "no stranger to issues that are near and dear to the African-American community. He's been right on all the issues that affect our community. I don't see where he has to change anything about what he's already doing to galvanize the African-American community to support him," King added.
"Everybody's James' friend: black, white, blue, green. It does not matter," Alexander said. "I don't think James is coming into this race to try to tokenize the black vote."
The lawmakers said they plan to campaign aggressively for Smith, knocking on doors in some of the state's most rural and poor communities.
King said Smith's candidacy is the first time he's been excited about a campaign for governor. "This year we are excited, and I feel a victory already."
This story was originally published May 11, 2018 at 6:35 PM with the headline "Can Clyburn, black SC leaders push James Smith to a governor's race victory?."