Joe Cunningham and Nancy Mace will meet in Beaufort for first SC congressional debate
Political rivals Joe Cunningham and Nancy Mace will meet for their first congressional debate in South Carolina’s top U.S. House race on the same day in-person absentee voting for the general election begins in the Palmetto State.
Hosted by The Post and Courier and the state’s public radio and television stations, the hour-long debate, which starts at 7 p.m. on Sept. 28, will be conducted at SCETV’s Beaufort studio.
It will also air on SCETV and SC Public Radio stations statewide. It will be the first general election debate in the race that is considered one of the nation’s most competitive congressional contests.
Details of the event were first announced by The Post and Courier, which is co-sponsoring the debate along with SCETV and SC Public Radio.
The three news outlets will also sponsor an Oct. 21 debate between U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and his Democratic challenger Jamie Harrison. That event will happen at SCETV’s Columbia studio.
Cunningham, a Democrat seeking his second term, and Mace, a Republican state representative, have confirmed two debates so far.
The second debate is scheduled for Oct. 6 at Charleston Southern University in North Charleston.
Mace, of Daniel Island, has challenged Cunningham to a total of five debates. Cunningham’s campaign has not publicly responded to her request.
This battleground race could determine whether Democrats keep their majority in the House of Representatives, or whether Republicans net the 18 seats they need to regain control of the chamber.
The congressional seat, which is anchored in Charleston but wraps along the southeastern coast of the Palmetto State, is considered a top target for national Republicans, who see Cunningham’s narrow 2018 victory as a ripe opportunity to flip the seat back to GOP control.
National Democrats, meanwhile, characterize Cunningham’s win in the coastal district as signs that the region is trending blue despite its historically Republican voting history.
Election forecasters generally rate the contest as a toss-up, but last week Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics shifted the race to “lean Democratic.”
This story was originally published September 11, 2020 at 5:00 PM.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct the date of the first debate, which is Sept. 28. An earlier version was incorrect.
