Democratic challenger to SC’s Joe Wilson scores Jim Clyburn’s endorsement
Democrat Adair Ford Boroughs has won the endorsement of South Carolina’s Democratic kingmaker in her bid to take out a 17-year Republican incumbent, U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson.
U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, the highest ranking African American in Congress and most powerful Democrat in the state, is endorsing Ford Boroughs, a Williston native, in her bid to unseat Wilson in the 2nd Congressional District, the campaign announced Tuesday evening.
It follows endorsements from the state’s last two Democratic governors, Former Dick Riley and Jim Hodges, and from Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin.
Though Clyburn’s support for a fellow South Carolina Democrat is not surprising, he doesn’t always put his name behind congressional candidates he doesn’t think are running viable campaigns in a Republican-leaning state.
Clyburn’s endorsement of Ford Boroughs, a former public school teacher and U.S. Department of Justice attorney, signals he believes she has met certain goalposts to be taken seriously — statewide and nationally.
“Adair Boroughs is the kind of candidate that can turn South Carolina’s 2nd Congressional District blue,” Clyburn said in press release. “Her experiences as a public school teacher and making legal representation accessible and affordable to low-income citizens demonstrate her deep commitment to improving our country and her community.
“The 2nd District deserves a fearless leader who will give a long-overdue voice to ordinary people who spend every day doing extraordinary things,” Clyburn continued. “She will do South Carolina proud.”
Ford Boroughs has a steep hill to climb in defeating Wilson, a senior member of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee where he can boast he’s advocated for the state’s robust military community.
The district is also one of the more conservative, leading to wide victory margins for Wilson in 2016 and 2018. The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan newsletter that analyzes U.S. elections and campaigns, ranks the district solidly Republican.
But Ford Boroughs has also broken fundraising records, surpassing the $1 million mark this month in the 2nd District for the first time in nearly a decade, her campaign reported earlier this week.
It’s the most raised in the district for a Democrat since Rob Miller, a Beaufort Democrat and Iraq War veteran, raised close to $3 million in his race against Wilson in 2010.
Miller benefited that year from the outcry in the wake of Wilson shouting “you lie” at then-President Barack Obama, as Obama was delivering an address on health care from the floor of the U.S. House. The outburst catapulted Wilson into the national spotlight as both parties sought to raise money off of the unprecedented event.
This year, Ford Borough’s supporters hope she can capitalize on anti-President Donald Trump fatigue and the hope of a “blue wave” election in November similar to the midterms of 2018, where Democrats retook control of the U.S. House.
She has outraised Wilson in four consecutive fundraising quarters.
This story was originally published May 19, 2020 at 6:30 PM.
