A Trump endorsee vs Clemson legacy. Will famous name impact SC GOP ag race?
How far President Donald Trump’s endorsement goes in South Carolina may be put to the test next week, when Republican voters will select their nominee in a close race for the state’s open agriculture commissioner seat.
Cody Simpson and Danny Lee Ford II — the top two vote-getters in the June 9 primary — will compete in the Republican runoff June 23.
Simpson, a Trump endorsee, and Ford, the son of a successful Clemson football coach with the same name, each received more than 160,000 votes. Simpson narrowly bested Ford by less than one point, or about 4,000 votes, in the four-person primary.
Both the Trump endorsement for Simpson and recognizability of Ford’s name may help decide the tight race next week, as voters weigh similar policy positions or know very little about either candidate, political scientists that spoke with The State said.
“Given that there’s not a lot of policy daylight between the candidates, name recognition and an endorsement can be everything,” said Jordan Ragusa, a political science professor at the College of Charleston.
Either Simpson, Ford or Democratic nominee DeShawn Blanding will be the first new South Carolina agriculture commissioner in more than two decades. Commissioner Hugh Weathers was first elected to the office in 2004 and announced his retirement last year.
Simpson, who grew up on a century row crop farm in Clarendon County and worked in the state and federal government, far out raised and outspent Ford. The support from Trump and money weren’t enough, however, to win in the primary.
“Being President Trump’s endorsed candidate from the very beginning, there were some of the candidates in the race at the time, most were, and the president said, I want you to go back home, I want you to serve South Carolina,” Simpson said.
Ford, a cattle and hemp farmer in the Upstate, raised one-third as much as Simpson. He said his father, who led Clemson University’s football team to its first national champion in 1981, helped boost his campaign, which Ford began in part to get out the word about the financial difficulty farmers faced.
“I’m just glad that I get my chance finally to get out there and show people how he’s affected my life and what he invested in after he got out of coaching, because it was his family,” Ford said.
The senior Ford is also a farmer and was one of the first 20 industrial hemp producers in the state in 2017.
“When you see somebody when is a champion and that they’ve come from that lineage, I think that you trust that,” Ford said.
Whoever ropes enough support in the runoff will face Blanding, the Democratic nominee, in November.
The new commissioner will oversee the state Department of Agriculture, which regulates and provides resources to South Carolina’s largest industry sector. State farmers also face far-reaching struggles in their livelihoods, with widespread drought and high prices for fuel and fertilizer this summer. For those farmers, the agriculture race will be more than lining up behind the Republican Party, said Shannon Bridgmon, a political science instructor at the University of South Carolina. Her research specializes in Southern politics.
“It’s not who you want to drink beer with anymore. It’s not who you’d want to go to a picnic with and who you want to hang out with at a Little League game,” Bridgmon said. “It used to just be ‘he’s a good old boy, and he understands us,’ and that might be enough, even for some other races. But for farmers in South Carolina, that’s not going to be enough.”
Will GOP voters support Trump-backed candidate?
Backing from Trump is important in South Carolina, but how much the endorsement matters may depend on who turns out to vote and whether they know anything about the candidates.
Trump appointed Simpson to a state executive director post with the USDA Farm Service agency in May 2025. The president and Gov. Henry McMaster then backed Simpson for commissioner of agriculture in February, before he jumped into the race.
“A true America First Patriot, who has been with us from the very beginning, Cody is an incredibly effective voice for South Carolina agriculture, and our amazing farmers and ranchers,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post in February. “Should he decide to enter this race, Cody Simpson has my complete and total endorsement. RUN, CODY, RUN!”
The president reiterated his endorsement in another post the afternoon before primary Election Day. Simpson is one of three statewide South Carolina candidates endorsed by Trump in 2026. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham won his primary election outright, and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette also will head to a runoff for governor.
For a Trump endorsement to matter, low-information voters will have to remember the name of the candidate, Ragusa said. Trump’s backing boosts candidates’ like Simpson’s name recognition, he said.
Voters may know more about the views and resumes of gubernatorial candidates than those vying for commissioner of agriculture, making a Trump endorsement potentially more valuable in a down ballot race, according to Ragusa.
“There will no doubt be a large percentage of people voting in this race who know nothing about the candidates other than one of them was endorsed by Trump, and that will be decisive in their vote,” Ragusa said.
If voters don’t know anything about either candidate, name recognition could help Ford, Bridgmon said. But for voters in agriculture, a Trump endorsement isn’t going to be enough, she said.
Farmers will be looking for someone who represents their interests. That could be Ford, a multigeneration farmer from a well-known family, Bridgmon said. It could also be Simpson, whose connections to Trump and the USDA may mean he has better relationships in politics and can advocate for farmers, she said.
“They might say, ‘hey, if we end up supporting someone that wasn’t Trump endorsed, he may not be receptive to those messages,’ ” Bridgmon said.
Simpson repeatedly flexed his credentials working in the USDA and governor’s office, saying his resume gave him connections with state and federal elected officials. Those relationships would help him in lobbying for policies that help farmers in the state, Simpson said.
“A lot of things that we talk about, regulations, policy, budgets, really, you have to think about how can we change course and move in the direction that we need to, where you’re going to need others who are not in ag,” Simpson said. “Well, I have the relationships with the Speaker of the House, with the House caucus, with the Freedom Caucus, with you name it, we have everybody on our team.”
Ford was also endorsed by Fred West, who came in fourth in the Republican primary.
How did candidates perform in primary?
Simpson narrowly finished first in the primary by less than one percentage point, or by about 4,000 votes. Jeremy Cannon came in third with 13.7% of the vote and incumbent-endorsed West received 10.9% of support.
Ford won more votes in Upstate counties and a few areas of the Lowcountry, while Simpson saw more support in portions of the Midlands and Pee Dee.
In Pickens County, home of Clemson University, Ford picked up 57% of votes. He also had a majority in Anderson, Cherokee, Greenwood, Laurens and Oconee counties.
Simpson had more than 50% of votes in Darlington, Clarendon and Florence counties, and he finished first in the most counties.
Simpson dominates fundraising
Simpson spent more than 13 times what Ford spent as of May 20 on the campaign. Money can help candidates up their name recognition and get out their message. Still, Ford trailed Simpson by just a few thousand votes while only spending a fraction.
“I think that’s miraculous,” Ford said.
Ford raised $172,700 and spent about $30,000, according to his pre-primary campaign finance report.
By May 20, Simpson brought in nearly $555,000 and spent more than $404,000. He raised thousands from farmers, attorneys and other high-profile South Carolina givers, including former gubernatorial candidate Rom Reddy, businesswoman Darla Moore and McMaster.
The runoff is June 23, and early voting runs June 17-18.