5 weeks until SC primary, are the Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls connecting with voters?
With five-and-a-half weeks to go until voters choose who they want to nominate for South Carolina governor, leading Democratic candidates are relying on retail politics and social media to gain supporters.
The latest opportunity to connect with voters was Saturday evening, when former Rep. Joe Cunningham and state Sen. Mia McLeod from Richland County appeared next to South Carolina’s highest-ranking Democrat, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, at his annual fish fry in North Charleston.
Carlton Boyd, of Columbia, who is also seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, also appeared at the fish fry.
At the lowcountry event, where Cunningham has higher name recognition over McLeod, many Democratic voters were still trying to figure out who they will support on June 14.
Both McLeod and Cunningham had energetic, abbreviated stump speeches in front of the crowd of several hundred people and spent much of the time greeting and taking pictures with Clyburn supporters waiting in line for fried fish.
“Change is coming to South Carolina and with your help and support, with your vote on June 14, she’s going to look a lot like me,” McLeod confidently said to the crowd.
Cunningham gave the pitch that his campaign is built to win in November.
“It’s been a tough couple of years here in South Carolina in this pandemic,” Cunningham said. “It’s been a tough year or two for Democrats in our state, but I want to remind everybody we are never ever down. In fact we’re just getting up here in South Carolina.”
The Democratic nominee will challenge Gov. Henry McMaster, if he wins the Republican nomination for a second full term as expected.
Angela Hayes, a 55-year-old home health aide, said she plans on supporting Cunningham.
“When he won (Mark) Sanford’s seat he campaigned very aggressively,” said Hayes, a Black woman from North Charleston. “I like his views and he’s a fresh face. I don’t know Ms. McLeod. I’m more familiar with Joe Cunningham.”
Mike Johnson, a middle school history teacher who lives in Charleston, plans to support Cunningham, but isn’t 100% locked into voting for him in the primary.
“I’ve had good experiences with him in the past as our district representative,” Johnson said. “I thought he did a good job here in the Charleston area. I like what he did. How he handled himself, how he communicated.”
Johnson said he has only heard a little bit about McLeod.
“I haven’t taken the opportunity to look,” Johnson said. “From what I hear from friends is that when I do that, I’ll be impressed.”
Alisa Locke, 54, of Berkeley County, and Jeannette Scott, 61, of North Charleston, both picked up McLeod T-shirts and fliers at the fish fry. Both say they aren’t committed to voting for a candidate yet and are researching them.
Scott, who lives in North Charleston, said she needs to learn more about McLeod and her stances.
“I just know the name, and that’s it,” Scott said.
Dave Cooper, 31, of Florence, is still undecided in the primary and doesn’t know much about either of the leading candidates, even though he put on a Cunningham sticker distributed by the campaign.
“I’m still trying to look at everybody’s situations, options and everything like that,” Cooper said.
Cooper said he wants to the campaigns to also focus on smaller communities.
“Smaller communities, everything like that, they’re getting lost in translation because everybody’s worried about the bigger picture,” Cooper said.
Ernest Brown, 48, of Columbia, hasn’t decided on a candidate yet, either, and is disappointed he hasn’t seen much from the campaigns.
“They should be more vocal and they should be very visible not just getting close to the primaries, you should already be out and about,” Brown said. “And it may be financial. They may not have the money to do that.”
Since launching his campaign last year, Cunningham has raised $1.7 million. McLeod has brought in $447,000 for her campaign, according to the State Ethics Commission.
They both trail McMaster, who has brought in $5 million during the cycle.
This story was originally published May 8, 2022 at 10:05 AM.
