Not just the GOP and Dems. Here are the 3rd party hopefuls who filed for SC gov
With most of the attention in the governor’s race on the major party candidates, three third-party candidates have also thrown their names in to the ring.
Those third-party candidates are not new to running for office.
Michael Addison filed to run as the United Citizens candidate. He ran as an independent candidate in the 2024 special election to finish the term of the late state Sen. John Scott. State Sen. Tameika Isaac Devine, D-Richland, won the seat.
He again ran in the Democratic primary for a full term, but Devine easily won. Addison also challenged U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn in the Democratic primary in 2022.
Walid Hakim is running as a Green Party candidate. He was born in Kuwait to an American mother originally from South Carolina, and Palestinian Greek father, according to his campaign website.
He also served in the Marine corps.
His political resume includes taking part in the Occupy Columbia protests, serving as the executive director of the South Carolina Libertarian Party, running for Columbia City Council, and running for the state House as a Democrat.
Activist Gary Votour, who ran for governor in 2022 under the Labor Party, filed to run for the Workers Party. In 2022, Democrats successfully sued to kick Votour off of the ballot because the Labor Party did not hold a nominating convention in time. Votour initially sought the Democratic nomination that year before moving over to the Labor Party.
Unlike the major party candidates for governor who had to pay a filing fee of more than $4,200, third-party candidates are allowed to file for free. The filing fee, which represents 1% of the governor’s salary times the length of the term, helps cover the cost of running a primary.
Third-party candidates don’t pay the filing fee because they nominate their candidates via a convention.
This story was originally published March 30, 2026 at 2:13 PM.
