Too tough to tame? SC Dem gov hopeful Joe Cunningham courts NASCAR fans to vote blue
Joe Cunningham was out of place.
Standing on the Darlington Raceway infield, packed with RV campers, the Democratic nominee for governor in South Carolina was surrounded by flags bearing former President Donald Trump’s name and “Let’s Go Brandon,” what’s become a popular phrase to insult President Joe Biden.
With sun beating down over the track, Cunningham slowly walked up to one camper selling cups of lemonade for sale, the proceeds which will go to charity, those at the stand said.
Handing his business card to Georgetown Republican Jay Colbertson, 34, Cunningham listed his top priorities should he be elected governor in November: He’ll work to legalize marijuana and sports betting and use the bully pulpit to push for age limits on politicians.
“I used to represent the 1st District (in the U.S. House) and worked with Tom Rice up there,” Cunningham said, referring to the 7th District congressman ousted in a primary after he voted to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. “We’re trying to get career politicians out of there and get the people in.”
Cunningham might not have won over Colbertson (Colbertson declined to comment for this story), but the Georgetown Republican is the kind of crossover voter the 40-year-old, one-term Lowcountry congressman needs if he’s going to win a statewide race in a reliably Republican state.
Cunningham, standing in the middle of the Pee Dee on a 90-degree weather day, appears to understand that.
The State newspaper exclusively joined Cunningham on Sept. 4 at Darlington Raceway’s Southern 500 as the Democrat stumped for votes at an event that in the past has shown more openness for Republican candidates, not Democrats. In 1992, for instance, race fans booed then-candidate Bill Clinton.
Standing at Darlington also Sept. 4 was Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, who is seeking a second full term in office.
At the track, Cunningham talked about how he sees his role as governor if elected and how he would deal with a Congress possibly poised to be in Republican hands. He also shared if elected how he plans to push his so-called “freedom agenda,” which would eliminate the state income tax, raise teacher salaries and legalize marijuana and sports betting — stances Cunningham says can win overs of all ages, backgrounds and political affiliation.
But Cunningham has embraced another strategy the Democrat sees as a way to motivate Republican and also younger voters to the polls in November: He’s keeping his distance from President Joe Biden.
The president has a 32% approval rating among South Carolina residents, according to a May Winthrop University Poll.
Going even further, Cunningham, to much frustration from even within his own party, has said Biden shouldn’t seek a second term, allowing someone younger to step forward.
Is it strong enough though to persuade a Republican voter enough to vote blue in November?
‘It’s not my job to defend Joe Biden’
For weeks, McMaster’s campaign has tried to show voters why they shouldn’t.
He’s criticized Cunningham for refusing to say whether he’d support the federal Inflation Reduction Act, a bill aimed at lowering health care costs and addressing climate change. The federal government will spend most of the money from the law through tax credits rather than block grants to states.
Late last month, McMaster released an ad aiming to show voters why they shouldn’t back “frat boy Joe,” by sharing footage of Cunningham opening a beer on the House floor, blowing an air horn during a committee hearing and saying the Democratic nominee wants to be “internet famous.”
Again, at Darlinton, Cunningham did not take a stance on the federal legislation touted by the Biden administration and Democrats in Washington.
“It’s not my job to defend Joe Biden, and I’m not going to,” Cunningham said.
But part of governors’ jobs is figuring out how to navigate federal legislation and orders that come down.
As the U.S. suffered under a recession, in 2009, then-Gov. Mark Sanford refused to take $700 million in federal money available to the state. The S.C. Legislature ultimately forced him to take it.
During former Gov. Nikki Haley’s term, 2011-2017, she refused to expand Medicaid as allowed under the Obama-era Affordable Care Act, and, in 2011, railed against National Labor Relations Board for taking action against Boeing after it opened a plant in South Carolina and accused the company of union-busting.
After South Carolina took federal COVID-19 relief passed during the Trump and Biden administrations, McMaster in March of last year withdrew from the federal government’s pandemic unemployment insurance programs.
McMaster also vowed to go the “gates of hell” to fight against Biden’s vaccine mandates.
A year ago, Cunningham criticized McMaster’s comments and said his decisions are “killing people,” but the Democratic nominee said he never wanted vaccine mandates himself.
Cunningham’s own COVID-19 plan included an oval office-style statewide address and having famous faces, including USC Women’s Basketball coach Dawn Staley and Hootie and the Blowfish lead singer Darius Rucker, to encourage people through public service announcements to get vaccinated.
“Where I feel like the government’s role was to bring vaccine to market, to get it through the process, to educate people and to be able to make it widely available as cheaply as possible, and free if possible,” Cunningham said. “That’s about where it ends. There has to be there has to be at some point personal responsibility.”
Cunningham has said he would expand Medicaid, with the federal government willing to pick up most of the cost.
“We’re leaving tons of money on the table” without expanding, Cunningham said.
Cunningham’s call for ‘freedom’
Another way Cunningham wants to woo voters? Stick to state issues and stop talking about Washington politics.
It’s why Cunningham has coined his campaign agenda the “freedom agenda,” a package of campaign promises that include, in part, eliminating the state income tax, legalizing marijuana and sports betting and protecting abortion access.
“I don’t want to call it a Democrat, Republican or Libertarian (platform). I couldn’t think of a better name than ‘freedom agenda,’” Cunningham said. “I think that kind of hits the nail on the head. I guess no Democratic candidates in the past has run on something like this.”
He’s also running his campaign similar to past Democratic candidates, saying he’ll veto any abortion ban if elected and would work to repeal any restrictions should a ban take effect.
“You do anything you can to make sure those decisions remain with women,” Cunningham said. “You do anything you can with state agencies, with your executive power and also use the office as a pulpit to advocate personal freedoms and liberties and women’s ability to have their own bodily autonomy.”
His stances have earned him the endorsement from Planned Parenthood South Atlantic’s political arm after a week of touring the state with his running mate Tally Casey.
“We saw people who were fired up, people who are angry, people who have never really been interested in politics but no longer can afford to stand on the sidelines, people who are ready for a new generation of leaders who care about problems and actually have a backbone to solve, instead of stoking these bulls--- culture wars,” Cunningham said at the endorsement event.
The use of the colorful language hasn’t been limited to just that speech.
In 2019, Cunningham was criticized for refusing to endorse hiking the minimum wage to $15 an hour wage while in Congress.
“I caught a lot of sh-- from people in my own party,” Cunningham said.
The language isn’t intentional he claims, but a side effect of frustration with career politicians who have stopped short of embracing marijuana legalization or who have not brought high-paying jobs to the state.
“To tell our veterans they can’t have access to marijuana when they fought and bled for our country, they come home with mental trauma, PTSD, and tell them that they can use marijuana. Yeah it pisses me off,” Cunningham said. “It pisses me off that we’re losing our best and brightest out of college to Charlotte and to Georgia and to New York, Chicago, and the fact that we’re continuing to get beat by our surrounding states.”
At Darlington, Cunningham looks for crossover voters
If Cunningham hopes to win in November, he’ll have to narrow the gap between McMaster’s 2018 win against then-state Rep. James Smith, who lost by 8 percentage points.
Cunningham, in his defense, says he’s more than capable of proving everyone wrong by pointing to his 2018 performance. Then, he outperformed Smith by 1 point and Biden by 3 points when he ran unsuccessfully for reelection in 2020 for the 1st Congressional District.
If it can be replicated statewide, it could vault him into the governor’s mansion.
His campaign staff says Cunningham has a path to victory in November.
A recent Cunningham internal poll showed the Democrat 7 percentage points behind McMaster. Another poll done by Republican leaning Trafalgar Group had Cunningham 8 points behind.
“You have to have crossover support in order to be successful. We’re not letting our foot off the pedal either,” Cunningham said. “We’re not taking any vote for granted. The fact that I’m here (at Darlington Raceway) right now is a testament and sends a message that we’re working our a-- off to earn every single vote.”
The pitch most likely wouldn’t work on Dean Willams, 63, of Beaufort, who drove his camper trailer to Darlington for several days for the Labor Day weekend race.
“We have to keep that d--- Democrat out of the State House,” Williams said in reference to Cunningham during an interview before the candidate arrived at the track.
William said he’s been familiar with McMaster since his role as U.S. attorney in Operation Jackpot, an investigation into a drug smuggling operation in the Lowcountry.
Cunningham doesn’t impress him, he said.
“He’s hanging on the coattails of the Democrats who want something free, they’re OK with abortion today,” Williams said. “I don’t think he’s good for the state at this point.”
Not every voter at Darlington shared the same sentiment.
Hilton Head resident Ronnie Broome, 60, who described himself as a conservative, voted for McMaster in 2018 but said he has yet to make up his mind this election.
“He seemed to be connected to what is going on in our state,” Broome said of Cunningham, calling him personable. “He understands the person at my level, what they’re dealing with every day and is open minded.”
Sitting with a small group of men, the conversation quickly turned to Cunningham’s stance to legalize marijuana.
“I can’t understand why marijuana is not legalized, especially from a medical standpoint,” said Broome, a retired area sales manager for Staples. “If you can put it out there and it’s safe, and it doesn’t harm anybody, then what’s the problem?”
This story was originally published September 11, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
