SC’s Jermaine Johnson stays in gov race ‘for the long haul’ despite calls to end bid
State Rep. Jermaine Johnson, D-Richland, a charismatic state lawmaker who has the ability to energize a room, resisted calls to end his bid for the governor’s and is staying in the race for the long haul.
On Friday rumors circulated in political circles Johnson would end his bid after receiving pressure to step aside.
In a video posted on social media Friday evening, he said “I’m in this for the long haul.”
During his campaign, Johnson said he has heard comments that he should step aside, because South Carolina would never elect a Black man governor, that his campaign wasn’t viable, he couldn’t raise money or a Democrat can’t win statewide. He even heard his hair was too long or too curly, that he’s too young and not established enough.
“You continue to hear these things, and you have to figure out how navigate around those things. Some of that stuff had gotten to me from some people,” Johnson said in a phone interview Friday afternoon. “What we’ve seen over the last 12 hours, the people don’t care about that. They don’t care about any of that type of stuff. They want somebody who’s a real leader for the people.”
Johnson, who struggled with the decision this week on whether to stay in the race, had a statement ready to release announcing his exit, but he tore it up Friday after receiving messages to keep his campaign going. Johnson plans to formally file to be on the ballot for governor on Monday.
Johnson was encouraged to run for governor by party leaders, but has struggled to raise the money necessary for a statewide race.
Between October and December of last year, Johnson raised $223,000 for his campaign, but spent $113,000, according to State Ethics Commission filings.
“Money is a big factor in any of these races, but I believe that South Carolina and the country is moving in a different direction, where the people of these different states are now saying that money is not the end all be all for it,” Johnson said.
Charleston attorney Mullins McLeod, the other declared Democratic candidate, dropped $2.3 million of his own money into his campaign. McLeod spent more than $297,000 on campaign consultants and fellows alone through December of last year.
Speculation of Johnson stepping aside also has risen amid rumors that Upstate businessman Billy Webster, who worked for the Clinton administration and for former Gov. Dick Riley, will enter the race as he is someone who could also self-fund a campaign.
U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn during his reelection campaign launch even pointed to Webster as a potential candidate for governor. Webster laughed it off.
Whoever is the Democratic nominee will be tasked with energizing the party base to help down ballot candidates in the midterm elections, especially in the relatively few state House seats that are competitive in a general election.
Democrats are looking to do well in the 2026 election because the party not in control of Congress or the White House tends to do make gains in the midterms.
If Johnson wins the nomination, he would be a different type of Democratic nominee for governor. The Democratic Party has consistently nominated a white man for governor since 1994. The party last nominated a Black man for governor in 1990, when former state Sen. Theo Mitchell ran.
A Democrat winning statewide is a tall task. The last time it happened was in 2006.
Johnson’s campaign started his campaign with much promise as many Democratic lawmakers in the State House rallied around his candidacy. Johnson had a lead in an early poll.
A South Carolina Policy Council poll of 348 likely Democratic primary voters released in February found Johnson had support of 25% of the electorate. McLeod had only 8%, but two-thirds were undecided.
When speculation early last year circulated Johnson would run for governor, he initially declined to launch a campaign. But he had been encouraged by party leadership to do so, and eventually started an exploratory committee in May in order to start raising money. The formal launch of his campaign then came in late October.
Johnson also announced earlier this year he would not seek reelection to his seat in District 52. Patrick Tate and Malcolm Taylor have filed to run for the Democratic nomination in that district, which covers parts of Kershaw and Richland counties.
