2 debates set for SC governor candidates

Incumbent GOP Gov. Henry McMaster and Democratic challenger James Smith will meet in two debates this month. The two candidates for lieutenant governor also will meet in a debate.

The debates will air on SC ETV and will be co-hosted by the Charleston Post and Courier, the newspaper said Wednesday.

The first debate between McMaster and Smith will be Oct. 17 at Francis Marion University in Florence. A second debate between the two will air Oct. 25 from Greenville Technical College.

Both candidates’ lieutenant governor-running mates, Greenville Republican businesswoman Pamela Evette and Lancaster Democratic Rep. Mandy Powers Norrell, also will debate Oct. 29 at the ETV studio in Columbia.

This the first election in South Carolina when the governor and lieutenant governor will run on a single ticket, as the president and vice president do nationally. In the past, candidates for S.C. lieutenant governor has run separately.

All three debates will air at 7 p.m. and be carried on S.C. Public Radio. The debates will be moderated by Charles Bierbauer, former dean of the University of South Carolina’s College of Information and Communications, and the Post and Courier’s Andy Shain.

This story was originally published October 3, 2018 at 7:47 AM.