In only debate, SC Democratic governor candidates tout bipartisan work to get agenda done
Three South Carolina Democrats vying for governor finally met on the debate stage Friday night after a week of Twitter fireworks.
All eyes were on Joe Cunningham, a former Lowcountry congressman, and Richland County state Sen. Mia McLeod, the two frontrunners in the race who are looking to avoid a June 28 runoff in their challenge to face incumbent Republican Gov. Henry McMaster.
Candidate Carlton Boyd, of Columbia, who has never held elected office before, also participated in the debate broadcast by South Carolina ETV. It will be the only televised debate between Cunningham and McLeod before Tuesday’s primary.
Two other candidates are on the Democratic ballot: William Williams, of Florence, and Calvin McMillan, of Columbia. Both did not participate in the debate.
The debate will re-air at 8 p.m. Monday on ETV.
Here are five takeaways from the debate:
No one announced a running mate
None of the candidates running for governor have announced a running mate who would join them on the November ballot.
Candidates do not have to name a lieutenant governor until August, but Boyd, Cunningham and McLeod did explain what characteristics they are looking for in their No. 2.
Before four years ago, gubernatorial candidates did not run on a joint ticket. That changed in 2018, when the Legislature tweaked the state Constitution to move the lieutenant governor office to the governor’s ticket.
McLeod on Friday said she wants someone who is not afraid “to tackle tough issues facing South Carolina, (and) somebody who leads with courage has compassion and empathy for the people of South Carolina.”
And Cunningham said he wants a running mate who will be ready on Day One, “because the fact is the issues and challenges that our state is facing right now, we cannot wait (and there) cannot be any on the job training.”
Candidates would expand Medicaid
In order to improve health care access in the state, McLeod and Cunningham said they would expand Medicaid for the state’s residents with incomes that are too high to qualify but are too low to qualify for savings in the health insurance marketplace, allowed under the Affordable Care Act.
More than one million South Carolina adults and children get their health insurance through the state-federal Medicaid program.
The American Rescue Plan included a measure to give states more federal resources to expand Medicaid, but Republicans in South Carolina have not been interested in the move, citing long-term costs to expand the program that the state would at some point have to pay for.
“It will bring jobs into our state, it will be a tremendous economic boost for our state,” McLeod said. “It will help us to reopen our rural hospitals.”
Cunningham added that “nobody should go broke or go into debt or bankruptcy because they fall ill, or get sick or have a genetic condition. Every person with private insurance would see their rates go down as well.”
Both tout work across-the-aisle
If either of the frontrunners become governor, they’d be faced with the challenge of leading with a GOP-controlled Legislature.
But McLeod and Cunningham both said they have the experience of working with the other side to get their agenda done.
Cunningham said while in Congress he was able to convince his Republican colleagues to support legislation that would close the so-called Charleston loophole, which critics consider a weakness in the law that, for instance, allowed Dylann Roof to buy a gun to kill nine Black churchgoers in 2015 even though he was facing a narcotics charge.
McLeod pointed to legislation she got passed in 2018 that pushes schools to exhaust all steps to address student’s disciplinary issues before calling in law enforcement.
The law was passed after a police officer was taped on camera physically removing a Spring Valley High School student from her desk after her teacher reported that she had refused to put away her cellphone.
Both say teachers should be paid more
All three candidates on the debate stage Friday night said the state’s teachers need to be paid more.
The state has long grappled with how to improve the work environment and encourage teachers to stay in the profession, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic.
McLeod said teacher pay needs to be aligned with the national average, and said class sizes need to be smaller and students should take fewer tests.
“We have to listen to teachers and administrators,” McLeod said. “They’re on the front lines. As legislators, there aren’t many in the South Carolina legislature who are educators. For us to impose our thoughts and desires for teachers when they’re telling us what they need to be successful is crazy.”
Cunningham said if elected to two terms he would push legislators to raise the starting teacher pay to $50,000 by the end of his administration.
“You compare that to what Gov. McMaster is doing, which is nothing. Teachers need help,” Cunningham said.
South Carolina House and Senate budget writers on Friday agreed to raise the starting teacher pay in the state to $40,000, up from $36,000. The plan still needs approval from lawmakers in both chambers.
McMaster also signed a bill earlier this year to give teachers 30 minutes a day of uninterrupted time.
Candidates leave the the fireworks to Twitter
None of the Twitter back-and-forth over this past week made it on the debate stage.
Earlier in the week, after House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford endorsed Cunningham over his fellow Richland County delegation member, McLeod took to Twitter to personally attack Rutherford.
She raised previous allegations about circumstances surrounding Rutherford’s wife’s attempt to become a magistrate judge, using the state plane and his mother-in-law’s nonprofit. Rutherford has previously addressed these allegations, and there was no evidence he did anything illegal.
But the fiery banter on Twitter did not show up on the debate stage as Cunningham and McLeod mostly avoided taking jabs at one another, and instead lobbed jabs at McMaster.
McLeod did take one veiled shot, saying she’s the only candidate originally from South Carolina.
Cunningham moved to South Carolina in 2000 from Kentucky, when he enrolled at the College of Charleston.
